Exquisite Desire (rewrite)
by ShullieQ
Summary: Violently orphaned as a child, Itachi has worked hard to survive on his own until he is found by Deidara, a young looking vampire with a taste for Itachi's blood and a different idea of survival.
1. The Encounter

_"Maybe they did what they had to do to live, and tried to get a little love and have a little fun before the darkness took them." – Poppy Z. Brite, Lost Souls_

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Author's Note: This story is a rewrite of my original story, Exquisite Desire, that I reposted on Ao3 under the same name. I have noticed people are still reading the old one and I wanted to share the new version, which I feel is better. I hope you enjoy it.

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The City That Never Sleeps.

It was the title made famous in song for the city of New York by a crooning melody. Those who heard it felt a sense of nostalgia for New York, even those who had never set foot in it. It gave New York City a sense of otherworldliness and, in a way, it did have an otherworldliness. But it wasn't the only city that didn't sleep. In fact, in a list of cities that didn't sleep, it was lower on his list. Then again, he knew the times when people spent safe in their beds better than most. He did like New York, but Tokyo was different. Not only did Tokyo not sleep, but it didn't rest. It didn't settle down when the sun set. The sunshine people didn't give way to the nighttime people as it did in New York. Tokyo simply never stopped.

He squatted down outside of a Family Mart with a group of men who he wasn't part of, but allowed him to stand near them as they ate their container of chicken and drank their cans of Strong Zero and smoked their cigarettes. He didn't like the smell, but didn't stop them. Japanese cigarettes had a menthol smell to them that other countries cigarettes lacked. It made it smell better than clove cigarettes at least.

He stood out badly, his skin pale, his hairs pale, his eyes pale. Not as much as he had many years ago when he had first come to visit this country. It had been impossible to not be noticed then, but now he was just another foreign tourist and, in Tokyo, most didn't give him a second glance. He watched a group of Salary Men walk up the street, already a little drunk from their first round and walking into an Izakaya with their bosses, laughing jovially with one another.

There was no growling in his stomach to indicate that he was hungry, but instead the dull ache of hunger began to grow. He would need to make a decision soon. A decision, or nothing at all. And he hated nothing.

Nothing had been what he had received when he stepped off the plane at Narita. He had chosen Narita because he liked to ride the train and watch the farms fly by and the little compact houses that all looked the same and completely unique at the same time. Small places where magic might linger. But he had received nothing when he arrived. And he should have. He had stepped out of customs into a bustling madness of foreigners bumbling around stupidly with no care that they were in the way and natives who dragged their belongings through them desperate to get out of the airport and into their own beds. Perhaps it was too early to have received a greeting, he had decided and descended out of the madness and into the bowels of the airport to the waiting express trains. It had not been too early when he had stepped off the train at the noisy maze of Shibuya Station and it had not been too early when he had walked the streets to the tall building that contained his mansion. It had not been too early when he walked nearly to Harajuku to stock his empty mansion with nourishment.

It had not been too early and he had received nothing.

A young man walked out of the convenience store with a small bag weighed down in his hand. It smelled of azuki beans and sugar and rice and seaweed and chicken. His expression was empty as he paused outside the door that swished shut behind him, but he stepped almost automatically to the side and out of the way of anyone who wanted to enter or leave. His expression was empty, but his eyes were deep and haunted by emotions. Finally, he moved forward like a robot and began to leave the store behind. Attention caught, the foreigner stood and followed after him.

He would not receive nothing. He deserved everything.

Itachi became suddenly aware of his breathing – or lack thereof – which caused him to inhale deeply and let it out slowly. The tightness in his chest seemed to ease a little, but also left behind a sense of loss as though his lack of deep breathing had been what was keeping the sadness away and he was now raw to it. The night was noisy, but it was so much a part of his life that it was more common than the rustle of wind in the trees to him and no more significant. He wasn't entirely sure where to go. For many years he had snuck out of the rooms he shared with others to the kitchen or back yard, but this year he had moved into a small apartment that stank of years of people living poorly in it that he wanted to find something beautiful that he liked.

It took him a long while to find it, though he hadn't really been looking. His feet had found it for him. A small park of green with a small bit of water running joyfully over rocks. He sat down on a stone bench in front of the water, then, changing his mind, slid off the bench onto the stone pathway that bordered the water. It was perfect.

Reaching into the conbini bag, he pulled out his purchase and laid them out like a little picnic. He opened the container of dango and turned the lid upside down on the ground, using it as a makeshift plate for the onigiri he carefully unwrapped and place there. He set a small carton of strawberry milk next to the onigiri and a bottle of green tea by the dango and set the chicken between the two places to share. Finally, he took from his pocket a small toy soccer ball keychain from a gatcha machine and set it down next to the onigiri. And then he began to speak.

Not out loud. No, that was a little too strange. Itachi had decided a long time ago that psychiatrists said a lot of pointless things, but also gave a few pieces of good advice. It still felt stupid, but, he would note to himself when he felt foolish, he had remained sane. Perhaps this had been a piece of good advice. He was nearly finished his dango and tea, the inner monologue about the events of the year so far had reached his acceptance into a high school, the events of that first year, and moving to a new place for his second year when he felt someone enter the park. He had his back to the rest of the park, but something in the air seemed to change. Something that made him turn around. The hair on the back of his neck had risen.

It was a foreigner. Just a teenager by the look of him, but it was after midnight and Itachi didn't know many foreigners, so perhaps he was older than he looked. His clothes were fresh and clean, but his jacket and boots and soft leather messenger bag seemed as though he had stepped into life wearing them. They looked more a part of the foreign teen than the rest of his clothes.

"Are you waiting for someone?" the foreign teenager asked, looking at the second and untouched meal laid out for another. His Japanese was perfect, but sounded a little strange. Itachi decided it was because it wasn't the type of speech used by young people, but of a generation of grandparents. As if he had learned Japanese from a group of elders.

"No," Itachi replied, and wished instantly that he had said yes. He didn't want the stranger to stay.

"Is someone waiting for you, un?"

It was a strange question, one that made the sadness in his heart both swell and something survival wished to push it aside. Sadness wouldn't help him in this dangerous situation, yet there was nothing dangerous about the situation at all. "Yes," the sadness and the survival.

The teenager looked down at the snack for a child. "Not in this world, though."

"No," murmured the sadness.

The teenager's face split into a grin that big and wild and dangerous. "Want to come have some fun with me?" he asked, rocking back on his heels so his toes lifted off the ground. "Maybe you'll meet them on the way, un."

And he knew that death had come for him.

It took him a little by surprise. He had often wondered how death would approach him. More often than not, he was sure that death would come as suicide when his desire to continually placing one foot in front of the other in his path through life was finally weighed down too heavily by loneliness and sadness that he wouldn't be able to take another step. He would never have guessed that death would come in the form of a foreign teenager with long blond hair and a grin that announced both fun and insanity. There was no mistaking death in his blue eyes though, hungry and wild with murder. Itachi could see that and stood up anyway, looking once more at the place set for a child he loved and said good bye before following death out of the park and back into the city.

"What is your name?" Itachi asked softly as they walked closer to Shibuya Station, to a high-rise apartment building to a lobby and to an elevator.

Death grinned at him, "Deidara," it replied.


	2. Prisoner

Exhaustion was not something he had ever felt before. Not like this. This was worse than anything he had ever experienced in his life. Every inch of his body protested to the slightest movement. But his heart needed to beat. His lungs needed to expand. As these things came to his awareness, a thought rose from the murk.

He was not dead.

Or perhaps he was dead. No one really knew what happened after you die, so perhaps he was about to find out. It felt warm and peaceful, the ground under him soft like a bed. Perhaps this was how the next life began. He tried to argue for this point of view with himself, but it wasn't getting very far. His mind stubbornly stated, no, we are alive, we have never been dead. From what he could tell without opening his eyes, he was alone in a room. A spacious one, twisted in something that felt like a solid liquid, something heavy pushing him affectionately into the bed. It was a bed. The solid liquid must be sheets, the heaviness, a comforter. He wondered how long he had lain here and wondered where he was.

The night slowly began to return to him. He had been sitting in his new closet sized apartment room, thinking about how he would have to endure school tomorrow, and worse, he would have to endure tonight. He had been unable to stay in that place, embarrassed to give his monologue in that awful room and had found a park. And had laid out the meal, and the toy he had picked up. And Death had come for him.

Eyes flying open, Itachi sat up and stared around him, almost instantly crashing back down into the comfortable bed with a cry of pain. His body was in total agony from the exhaustion. With his eyes squeezed shut, flashes of nightmarish images returned to him. He had taken an elevator to a very high floor and to a beautiful and expensive mansion. The blue eyes that pulled him closer, wondering how he would be killed and hoping that it would at least be quick and painless. It hadn't been painless, but…

He jerked his hand between his legs, trying his best to breathe evenly. His body remembered what those impossibly sharp teeth had done to him, reacting to the memory of it. His hand stroked his inner thigh, looking for evidence. Where there should have been deep marks, but there was nothing there. His breath came heavy with panic and confusion. He had been bitten, painfully and wonderfully bitten. He had never been bitten down there before – he had never been bitten anywhere before – but he doubted it was normal to react as he had. So many reactions. Itachi sat up slower this time, pushing aside the heavy comforter and sheets from his body and stared down at himself.

There should be an embarrassing crusty mess there, there should be the marks of bites on his inner thighs, but there was nothing except fading red splotches. He was clean. And naked. He hadn't remembered his underwear being off when his vision had turned grey and dizziness took him and he passed out. Had it all been a dream? But if it had been a dream, then where was he? And where was the foreign teenager?

Quite some time was spent getting out of the bed. He had never felt so weak and sore and his body did not want to move. When he managed to get out of the bed, his legs were unable to bare his weight and he knelt next to it, clutching the mattress. He did not like being naked in a strange place and used his eyes to search for his clothes. No such luck. Instead, he found a navy colored bath robe hanging on the door of a tall wardrobe standing against the wall not far from the bed. He didn't want to use something that wasn't his, but he didn't want to walk around naked either, so he pulled it on. The fabric was as soft and liquid as the sheets and it fit him. Strange… his memory told him the blond foreigner had been very small.

With his body properly covered, Itachi ventured around the bedroom, moving slow so that the weakness he felt didn't overtake him. The room was decorated in an entirely Western sort of way, the furniture was a heavy dark wood and draped with creamy lacy sheets. The bed was blanketed by a deep maroon that matched the floor to ceiling curtains that shut out any and all light. There weren't even lines of light along the sides of the curtains which made him wonder if there actually were windows there and not a solid wall pretending. He reached over a stuffed chair and little table and pressed his fingers into the curtain, finding a smooth and solid mass behind it. Not a wall. As he pressed, he could feel a coolness there, slow to seep through the fabric. The cool September air found the pads of his fingers. It was still autumn outside, but he had no way of telling the time of day, nor was there a clock anywhere in the room, lit by soft lamps. He looked across the room at a door that opened to a bathroom, but changed his mind and his eyes moved to the door.

It was the same dark wood as the bedroom furniture with brass knobs that were polished brightly. The images of the living room and kitchen from the night before came to him slowly, or perhaps it had been yesterday, or maybe several days ago. He had no idea what day it was. His body's internal clock had turned itself off. Outside that door could be the smiling foreign teenager with the playful feminine features and pretty blond hair, but it could also be that devilish creature with sharp teeth who he had perceived so clearly as death. Were they the same person?

In his sadness, he had been resolved and welcoming to the possibility of dying, of the stranger killing him. He had wanted it then, at his lowest, but now that he was awake again, he felt foolish for dropping that low, for wanting to die. He wondered why he hadn't been killed. He had read many books with crime, both true and fiction, he had read one obscure novel that had been translated from English of a serial killer who had taken in boys and men and killed them, then hung onto their bodies to pleasure himself with until decay was inevitable and he would dispose of them. He didn't know why he read the book, but it had been one of the few books he had to constantly put down and remind himself that he was not inside the book itself and he had never finished it. Itachi had been invited into the den of a stranger, and he had followed in a suicidal state of mind. He had wanted the younger man to kill him. It was unlike himself, but it had been true. He had been sad enough, lonely enough that he had accepted it. He had looked into the blond's eyes and saw his death. He was sure he had, but why then did the blond leave him alive. Had he been mistaken? Delirious? Despite the fear that had tightened his stomach, the embarrassment of having intimate contact with a strange, intimacy he had never desired to share with another before rose a little. He found himself dreading the thought of seeing the other out of embarrassment. Perhaps he could simply slip out and go home and pretend this never happened.

Try to leave, please do… I would enjoy hunting you…

He clutched the edge of the wardrobe with a sharp intake of breath. He didn't remember hearing those words, yet they came back to him in warning. Words whispered to him as the world faded away and he felt himself falling out of himself into unconsciousness.

If he didn't open the door, he would never have to face the stranger, but he would never know if he had dreamed those sharp teeth and the icy blue eyes. If he didn't open the door, he would never have the chance to go home. Now that he found himself alive, he decided he rather liked it.

Taking a deep breath, he turned the handle and pulled the door open.

The mansion was empty.

The nervousness he had felt changed to a wash of disappointment. All that adrenaline rush for nothing. He was tempted to call out 'hello', but decided against it. Instead, he walked slowly into the living area and looked around.

It was clean and orderly, but the kind of clean and orderly that indicated that the place was stayed in, not lived in, much like a hotel room. And those curtains… going over to them, he began patting them gently until he found a break. The bedroom curtains hadn't had one and he gently pulled them apart. Behind them was the sun, shining warm on the September chilled glass. Something about the sun filled him and he took another deep breath despite that the window was closed and there was no outside air to breathe. It felt like the sun reached out to touch him and it felt warm and familiar. He turned back to the room again and walked deeper into the main area.

The lights were all on, the bulbs dimmer than most and didn't hurt his eyes, but bright enough to see by. He looked at the living room set and the space that he supposed should be a formal dining area, but was just empty space. He moved closer to the kitchen which was large and open and found a piece of paper waiting on the counter. It was a sheet of stationary that looked like something an elementary school child would use, a black penned note read 'food in fridge, leave and I'll hunt you'. Itachi stared down at the note, wondering if there had been a mistranslation. The young foreigner had spoken fluently, but perhaps wasn't as fluent as he seemed. Perhaps he meant search for him, look for him. Not 'hunt', but the word was written very clearly. He would be hunted? What did that mean? Was he still going to be killed after all? Was he a prisoner then? He couldn't be held for ransom – not that his host seemed to need money, he noted with a glance around the apartment – but, if he did, he picked the wrong person. Itachi was an orphan and had been bouncing from foster home to foster home his entire life. He was only living on his own now because he had won a government stipend to live on his own for high school. And that barely covered living expenses.

Setting the note back down on the counter, he decided to look into the rest of the note at least. Opening the fridge and freezer doors at once, he peered inside and frowned. The freezer was completely empty, save for a single serving cup of conbini ice cream. The fridge didn't hold produce, dairy and deli he had expected, but instead had a carton of juice, packet of pudding, a package of sweet bread, and a package of dango like the one he had eaten the night before. He gave the fridge a confused frown, but pulled the items out and set them on the counter before examining the remaining contents. There were sealed packets laid out on the well-spaced racks that looked like packets of sugary drinks mothers purchased for their screaming children that only made the screaming worse. These didn't hold any familiar labels, colors, and characters of those drink packets. Instead they bore white labels with dates printed above a solid English letter. He stared at them. A. O. B. AB. Some had a plus or minus symbol next to them. There were more AB's than the others.

With a sudden jolt of realization, he dropped the bag and jumped back from the fridge.

Blood types.

Last night he had been bitten in his thigh, but the orgasmic reaction it had caused had blocked out everything else and he hadn't realized it while it was happening. He was weak today. Not from wave after wave of orgasms the biting had caused, but from blood loss.

Leave, and I will hunt you.

He wanted to panic. He could feel it rising in his chest, but what good would that do? Instead, he closed the fridge door firmly, took a few deliberate steps away. With his heart pounding in his chest, he found a seat in the living room where he could see the entire area without anyone sneaking up behind him and settled down, nibbling on what may or may not be considered food.

There was another lit area on the other side of open space that he hadn't noticed before. It looked like a study – no, a library. His eyes widened when he saw the shelves and shelves of books. He leaned forward in his seat, wanting badly to go over and look, but another door caught his attention and not even the love of books could get him to move now. The door was shut tight and no light came from the small crevice at the bottom of the door.

It was a very innocent door, nothing out of the ordinary, but as he looked at it, the hairs of the back of his neck seemed to stand. It was a feeling he got from time to time, a terror of walking down a street he had walked hundreds of times before. The unrelenting urge to take the elevator instead of the stairs. It was the feeling he had when he sat in the park just before the stranger had approached him. It had been the first time he hadn't listened to it, and look where it had gotten him.

He sat back in his chair, no longer interested in the meal designed for a child, took a few deep breaths, and waited for his host to emerge.

Behind the door, in the darkest of darkness of the second bedroom, Deidara lay giggling silently. If he could cry from laughter, his pillow would be soaked. As it was, his bones were made of frail dust and his muscles were tough as dried beef. It was not comfortable to move, so he resisted the urge to laugh outright. He was rather pleased with his decision to leave the young brunette alive. He was very entertaining and adorable to spy on, even though he had to rely on his other senses to tell him what the boy was up to. The boy, Itachi, had a scent of nervousness that seeped through the cracks of his door, but he was so brave to get up and move around. The nervousness rose to fear when Itachi figured out what the packets in the fridge were, but he didn't run away. Deidara was a little disappointed. He wanted to hunt him down, to play with his fears, to track him until he broke him. Instead, he was taking things into his own hands and waiting for him to emerge.

Shame. He'd have to wait quite a while for him to emerge. It was only three in the afternoon.

When the final rays of the sun finally descended behind the horizon, Deidara rose from the bed, shaking away the aches of the last few hours of the day and pulled the hood of his Toothless Kigurumi he'd been wearing for pajamas. He took a moment as he left the room to take inventory of his mansion. He had left the lights on because he hadn't been aware of how long his gust would sleep. Waking up in a dark and strange place was rather frightening. He still looked as though he needed sleep, but perhaps he needed to get some more sugar in him. Or relax a bit. Hm. Maybe he shouldn't feed from him again tonight. He hadn't wanted him to be bored either so he had left his study lights on too with video games laid out on the desk, but the brunette hadn't gone past the kitchen. With a cheerful 'hello' to the boy watching him like a hawk – though he looked at him oddly for his clothes, he walked into the bedroom and changed into more socially acceptable clothes.

One of the things he loved about visiting Japan was that it was completely acceptable for him to wear whatever odd mismatch of clothes he wanted. And he did so as fun and as colorful as possible. When he came out, Itachi was still staring at him, but this time gave him a slow blink and a once over. Well not everyone could appreciate colors and patterns like he could. "Your clothes are folded on top of the dryer in the laundry room," he told Itachi, pointing towards the kitchen. "Help yourself to my games in the study, but get some sleep and eat some food, un. I'll return later!"

The brunette opened his mouth and closed it again, glancing at the kitchen, then back at him. "What food?" he asked.

Deidara blinked, frowning. "The food in the fridge," he replied.

"That isn't food."

"Then why was it in the food section of the conbini?" Deidara countered.

The brunette seemed to want to say something, but changed his mind. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied with a smirk, crossing the room and left the apartment, leaving him shut in and alone. It was for his own good. If he had to decide what to do with him right now, he might not see the next sun rise.

Exiting the building, he walked down the street looking for something to catch his eye. He found himself not really craving anything other than the poor boy up in his room. He made an unhappy noise as he stopped in the light of a 7-Eleven and glanced inside. How was the stuff in the fridge not food? He shook his head and continued on. He really wanted to taste him again. His blood was so rich, richer than anything he had ever tasted before. He licked his lips at the memory of it. He had never heard of creatures like him changing shape, but he felt he could get fat from feeding off him. The world was full of meals. No sense in wasting something so soon. Yet he craved him like nothing he had ever craved before. He couldn't waste him in one night. He had to take him when he left Japan.

He stopped short and someone walked into him. He had heard of this type of craving before.

He wasn't the type of person to feel fear, but he felt afraid suddenly. His fingers reached up to touch his chest where the scars still marred his skin.

Shit…

He shook his head and turned down a small street. A change. A distraction. He liked these Japanese streets – the ones that looked as though they were back alleys but were actually roads. There were creatures other than him living here in the city. Creatures like him thrived in cities because it allowed them to live in anonymity. It made them safe. He could see the signs of nonhuman activity that would be no more than an unmarked door hidden away from the street lights. Or an entrance to a shopping hall that you always intend to go to, but never do because no one seems to go there. He stepped happily into a bar – and was promptly thrown out.

"Hey!" he growled, glaring at the creature pretending to be a man.

The creature pretending to be a man made a firm face at him, but Deidara only bared his fangs at him and the man took a few step back. "You are too young for the bar," he stated firmly. "Drinking age is 20 in Japan."

"I'm old enough, un," Deidara growled, but any argument was stopped by a creature pretending to look like an old Japanese man coming out and placing a hand on the door's guardian's arm.

"My apologies," the man said in a withered voice. "He is new."

Deidara tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement and entered the bar. It was set up as a tiny, old Japanese izakaya with a bar that sat eight and a few tables that lined the walls. There were a few creatures sitting, silently drinking their drinks – drinks that were clear, drinks that were the color of tar, drinks that smoked – and munching on their snacks – grilled meats like pork, seafood, and bird, raw meat seasoned to perfection, and handmade onigiri stuffed with actual hands. Deidara began to giggle as he sat down at the bar.

"What is funny, child?" asked the thing pretending to be a Japanese man.

Being called a child was never much fun, especially when you were as old as he was, but he supposed he did look young enough to be called a child. Or perhaps this man was old enough that he really was a child. Either way, Deidara wasn't stupid enough to be offended. "I was thinking of a song about meat pies stuffed with men and thought your onigiri should have a line in it, un," he explained, still grinning.

The thing pretending to be a Japanese man stared at him, looking unimpressed with his joke. He smelled of woods before the sun rose and dried the night's moisture. While he waited for the man to finish sizing him up, Deidara's thoughts wandered to wondering what the creature was and if he was fae or something indigenous to Japan. If he was a fae he wondered if Japan had less iron than the Western world that it wouldn't burn him. "You are not under the Master," the man finally stated, hands working habitually and he had a pint of dark liquid in front of him in a matter of minutes.

He opened his mouth to reply, but then a curly straw was stuck in the liquid and the man became his new favorite bartender in the world. "I'm not from a were-pack," he replied, more friendly than he had originally intended to. "I can travel without anyone's permission, un." He sucked up the drink through the fun straw, then considered again. "I heard there's a new Master though. Anything I should know?"

"All of the Blood Drinkers must go through the Master to get their meals," he replied, not looking up from his work of preparing a meal for another customer. The waitress dressed in a kimono came to get it, too many footsteps sounding as she walked. Deidara really wanted to look down to see how many feet she had, but figured it was rude. "Especially visitors," the man concluded, cleaning his knife.

"You're well informed," Deidara praised him instead of thanking him for the information. He didn't know whether he was a fae or not, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The creature that smelled like an old forest bowed his head and went back to work and left him to his drink. It was hard to stay out here, drinking restaurant food when he knew he had something fresh and delicious back at home.

If the new Master was keeping such a tight eye on his own people, he was probably keeping a worse one on visitors. Common curtesy among his kind stated that a visitor should receive a formal greeting and an invitation to meet with the Master himself. This was so that the visitor could learn the rules the Master had in place for the protection of the Master's territory, and also to tell whether or not the visitor was a threat to the Master. He had received no greeting. No invitation. How rude. Not that he ever really listened to authority, nor would he accept any invitation to meet a Master. It was a matter of principle. Why would he respect the Master when he had done nothing to deserve it?

Everyone had to go through the Master to get their meals. Whoops.

He finished the drink, placing money on the counter and walked out with the curly straw in his hand to find something to do. He decided to return to the park and try to follow Itachi's scent to learn more about him.

Back in the mansion, it had taken Itachi several minutes until he was able to move again after the blond had breezed out from behind the closed door as though nothing had happened the night before, but something about the way the blond had spoken to him had sent icy terrors shooting down his spine. Itachi had certainly learned his lesson of not following strangers the hard way. Now he was prisoner to someone who had the mischievous innocence of a teenager. The boy looked no older than maybe fifteen, but there was hunger in those eyes and blood covered teeth threatened to return to his thoughts. There was no innocence in the blond. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced the memories back.

What was he?

Sucking on his tongue to try and moisten his dry mouth, Itachi finally rose and took a breath. How long had he been sitting there? The clock on the stove read 02:16. He had never stayed up so late before, but there was no way he could sleep. He was too scared. Maybe if he found a door with a lock on it.

With nothing else to do, he stood and walked into the kitchen. There was nothing else in the fridge, but when he opened the cabinet over the countertop he found a bag of shrimp chips and cheese sticks from a conbini. Despite his fear, he heaved a sigh of disappointment and took them out. Better than nothing, though his stomach complained unhappily at the lack of proper food for the day. He walked across the mansion and peeked into the study. His eyes widened.

There were… books… so many books. New books, old books, fiction and nonfiction. There were anatomy books, law books, books on cars, languages, financing, history, science – all organized on labeled shelves. Stumbling into the room, he set the bags of chips and crackers on the table and spun in a slow circle. There was also a bookcase full of video games and consoles as promised, but he ignored those and examined the books. There were several different languages that he could see; Japanese, English, another similar, but he didn't know any other languages than his own Japanese. He had always wanted to learn other languages, but he had never had time with his own hard work trying to graduate grade school and get into college – and hopefully out of the governments help. Looking at the books, he decided that either the blond enjoyed collecting books in foreign languages, or he could read at least nine different ones, maybe more. How could someone so young have learned so much? He felt a little ting of jealous. He picked up a book and sat down on the comfortable stuffed chair and opened the bag of chips to eat while he read.

He was so intent on his reading that he didn't hear the door open and close in the main area of the mansion. He didn't notice another's presence, until arms wrapped around him from above, making him jump. He felt his head brush a chin as he did so, but there was no painful connection. Looking up, he was inside a curtain of golden blond hair, blue eyes inches from his face. Deidara was examining him curiously, eyes moving from his face to the book in his hand. Could he tell his heartbeat was quickening? Was that what he was smiling about? Or was it the fact that the book he was reading was a kidnapping mystery?

"All those games and you pick up a book?" the blond asked, the grin spreading as his fingers slid down the sleeves of Itachi's bathrobes in what a gesture that was both comforting and intimate, but it only made his baby hairs stand on end and fear rise. Deidara seemed to notice and stopped touching him, moving around the chair to sit on the desk with his legs crossed. His blue eyes stared intently at his own, not seeming to blink as much as a normal person should. "You're not afraid though, right?"

His lips parted to answer an honest 'yes', but he found himself second guessing himself. Deidara was looking at him with his large, Western eyes the color of the sky on a cloudless spring day. Those eyes were beautiful, Deidara would never hurt him. After all, Itachi wanted to be here.

Wait. What?

Itachi blinked and shook his head as if to rid a fly, confused by his own thoughts. "Of course, I am," he finally replied. "Will you let me go home, please?"

Deidara looked equally confused, but recovered quickly. "Home to what?" he questioned. "You were giving some food to a dead child last night, weren't you? Doesn't seem like something someone with a home would do, un."

Itachi forced himself not to react, the wisps of sadness clutching at him. "I have school," he told him. "I enjoy it."

The blond sneered at him. "School," he scoffed, looking like a young child again. "That's just paperwork saying you can do basic stuff, un. You can learn anywhere. I could teach you more than you could learn at a school."

Itachi frowned, his brows creasing slightly. Deidara looked so young, how could he possibly know that much. Was he just smug? Was he lying? He didn't seem as though he were lying and the expensive mansion, clothes and books around him made it difficult to tell. "Who are you?" Itachi asked, his voice smaller than he would have liked it to be.

"Deidara," the blond replied, tilting his head to the side.

His frown deepened. "What are you?" he amended.

"Do you really wanna know?" the blond asked, eyebrow raising.

"If you're going to kill me, I wish you'd get it over with," Itachi finally replied, swallowing.

"You want to die?" the blond questioned, the innocence in his tone sending a chill down his back. This man… this child… could kill him with a smile on his face. He didn't know why he knew this, but he did.

"Not anymore," Itachi admitted. There was that pull again as he stared at the blond's face, but he blinked it away again and the feeling left him. The blond was playing with him. It was faint, but he could see a slight glimmer of amusement behind the hint of annoyance.

"You certainly did last night," Deidara nodded in agreement. "And you're frightened of me, un."

"You told me you'd hunt me down if I left. You did something… strange to me last night," Itachi argued, blinking his eyes again and glared at him. "Stop that."

"What?"

"Whatever you're trying to do with your eyes," Itachi said, pushing his chair away from the desk and Deidara.

The blond looked even more startled, and said something that sounded like cursing in a language Itachi didn't recognize. Finally, the blond slid off the desk and stood. "I don't want to let you go, Itachi," he replied. "You came with me willingly and you will leave when I say you can, un." The words were intense and, though he didn't know why, he took a step back, the danger flags blaring in his mind. The blond advanced on him, but he couldn't get out of the chair in time. The blond didn't hurt him though. He was picked up in his arms and carried like a baby out of the study as if he weighed nothing more than a throw cushion.

He was placed down on the bed he had woken up in and the covers were thrown – a little haphazardly – on top of him. "Are you going to bite me again?" Itachi asked fearfully when he caught his breath.

The blue eyes narrowed, almost suspiciously. "You remember that?" Deidara finally questioned. His tone almost sounded indignant.

"How do you expect me to forget?" Itachi asked, sitting up in the bed in a better position to defend himself if necessary.

The blond made a humming sound as if he was thinking, but shook his head. "Go to sleep."

"I'm not tired," Itachi said, wondering if he'd ever be able to sleep again.

"You are lying," Deidara stated, watching him intently. "You've been awake a long time. That's so weird…"

"What?"

"You're scared, un."

Itachi stared at him, confusion filling him. Why wouldn't he be afraid? How could he expect him not to be afraid? Had he followed a psychopath into his home? "It's normal to be scared," Itachi told him. "What are you? How old are you?"

"I forget," the blond said, his eyes wide and staring. "Fifteen or so."

"Or so?"

"Give or take," the blond said with a grin. His eyes cast around the room to the heavily covered windows and reached up to rub his chest as if it hurt him, then stood and walked out of the room. "Go to sleep, Itachi," he ordered, closing the door behind him.

Itachi stared after him, letting out the breath he had been holding. He wasn't just scared, he was terrified. The last time he remembered being this scared, he'd been six years old and hiding in his father's office. Reaching up, he pressed his palms into his eyes trying to push the memory away. He was tired – exhausted, but he didn't want to sleep. He slid out of the bed and went back out into the main floor.

The time flashed on the stove's clock. 4:26AM.

He couldn't remember ever being awake for this long. He was tired, so tired, but didn't dare sleep. He wondered if he should just run. The blond was just a kid. A teenager. But he was so strong. He had picked him up as easily as if he'd been a child. The idea of being hunted was also unnerving. It wasn't as if he had the capacity to disappear. He didn't have money. He had a place that was rented on scholarship money only.

His eyes closed. The scholarship. He had missed two days of school. If he ever got away, he wondered if they would be understanding to being kidnapped and not take it away, leaving him with nothing. Itachi stepped back into the study and sunk into the chair at the desk, looking around at the wealth of knowledge around him. He picked up the book he had been reading, but he barely found where he had left off when his eyes closed and he fell asleep with his head on the desk.


	3. The Master

When Itachi opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him, causing him to jump into a sitting position, rubbing sleep from his eyes as his heart pounded frantically against his ribs. Deidara was resting his head on the desk mimicking his position. Itachi hadn't wanted to sleep, but had no idea how long he had dozed off for. It felt like a while.

"Your stomach has been growling a lot," Deidara informed him, watching him from the desk surface.

"I'm hungry," Itachi answered before he could stop himself. His willpower shouldn't be so weak after only… how long had it been? Two days? Or was this the third?

Deidara stood up again and sat down on the desk, his legs crossing as he gave him a curious look. "But you ate," he commented.

"I told you that wasn't food," Itachi said softly. "Those were snacks."

"Oh," the blond replied, looking slightly taken aback. "Well," he said, clapping his hands as if he made up his mind about something. "Let's go get you something to eat, un!"

"What?" Itachi asked, eyes widening.

Deidara made a shooing motion towards the main flat. "Go take a shower and get dressed, un."

"You're letting me out?" Itachi stammered out, confused by the blond's sudden decision.

"Well, apparently, there's no food in here, so I guess so," the blond said, repeating the shooing gesture.

"Aren't you worried?"

A small twitch on those pink lips made his stomach jolt slightly. He wondered what the amusement was for, but whatever it was made him feel nervous. "Not at all," the blond replied. "I'm sure I can keep you safe, un."

"I mean," Itachi said, nerves on end again. "You kidnapped me… I mean someone—"

"No one is looking for you, Itachi," Deidara interrupted hand still held out. "No one cares that you've skipped out. Go shower."

His stomach that had risen into his throat suddenly dropped to his toes. The happy expression on Deidara's face was the exact opposite from how Itachi felt. Was that true? Most likely, he admitted to himself. It wasn't as though he had a lot of friends who would come and check on him if he didn't appear in school for a few days. He had isolated himself from his other classmates and didn't participate in clubs. The scholarship he had required him to have a medical emergency to miss so many days of class and his school was to report on that. Would someone come check on him or just assume he left? Perhaps Deidara intended to keep him? "What about my things? My books, my… picture frame?"

The blond considered him for a moment, his head tilting his head to the side. "Go shower," he repeated, his voice more of an order this time. "I will bring your precious things for you, after you eat."

"So you're not going to kill me?"

"If you don't go shower, I will throw you in there myself, un," Deidara said, his patience draining rapidly. "Your life wasn't worth anything before I found you, un."

"That's not nice," Itachi murmured, rising out of the chair and went into the bathroom to shower like he had been told.

The bathroom was one of the few places he hadn't explored yet. Now that he was inside, he glanced around to examine it, attempting to take his mind off of the current situation. There was a shelf that had a lot of scented bathing products then he had ever seen outside of the store. He meant to be quick because he didn't think the blond would wait long for him, but he ended up taking the time to smell each of the bottles before he found one and showered. It felt good and he cringed a little to think of how long it had been since he had last showered, but he was clean now at least.

Quickly drying himself off, he tied his hair back and dressed, then slipped out to where Deidara was waiting for him. The blond took a deep inhale as he approached, smiling as he pulled his shoes and coat on. Itachi shivered, but followed him out to the elevator.

"What are you drinking?" Itachi asked as the elevator doors closed.

"Not you," Deidara replied, gazing at him a little wistfully as he sucked up from his curly straw.

Itachi swallowed and stared at the lights blinking above the door as they descended. The blond was staring at him with a nerve wrecking intensity was making him feel twitchy. "What are you?" he whispered to the door. Instead of answering him, Deidara took another sip through the curly zigzagging straw. Itachi swallowed nervously when he finally looked away to walk out of the opening doors.

How strange.

How very strange.

This had never happened to him before. Not only did Itachi remember what happened the other night, but he was meeting his eyes and still frightened by him. Was he completely immune to his glamour? Deidara had heard that some people whose minds weren't as stable as it should be were sometimes able to see through glamour. Itachi didn't seem unstable to him though, he seemed intelligent in fact. He wondered if he was clever too, but he hadn't really shown much of that yet. It had been a long time since he kept something he hunted and couldn't remember, so maybe this was a natural reaction to being taken.

Sucking up the last of his drink, he disposed of it into a trashcan on the streets. It wasn't that bad. He supposed microwaved blood tasted similar to how frozen dinner was compared to a homecooked meal. It was difficult to walk with Itachi walking next to him, smelling so tantalizingly good. He didn't care if it was illegal to have him, he wasn't leaving Japan without him. But he couldn't feed from Itachi again until he had gained some of the color in him back, which meant food. Poor little humans. So fragile.

He watched Itachi eating a variety of dishes from the izakaya they stopped in, covering for himself by ordering orange juice and yakitori, but he passed them to Itachi and took Itachi's empty plates for himself. "You're making me feel uncomfortable," Itachi said quietly, staring down into his half-drunk juice.

"Why?" Deidara asked, looking a little startled.

"You're staring at me," Itachi said, drinking the rest of his juice.

He blinked and sat up a little. "Was I? Well, you're nice to look at, un," he told him, delighted by how his face flushed and he tried to protest. "Feel better now?"

Itachi nodded, finishing the remainder of his food. Deidara paid for the meal, Itachi giving a cringe when he saw the cost on the screen, but Deidara ignored it. He led him back out into the busy Shibuya night, taking in a breath of the city smells and enjoying the contrast of the dark night sky and the bright neon lights of the towering buildings announcing the various stores on each floor. He liked to look at the people too as he walked. Itachi followed him, quietly thanking him for the meal. Deidara smiled happily and nudged him into a department store to purchase him real clothes. It took his quite human a little while, but Itachi realized he was shopping for him and instantly protested.

"Don't be stupid," Deidara said airily. "Your clothes are old and thin. You need decent clothes."

"These things are too expensive," Itachi told him in a quiet voice so no associates could hear. "And… I don't like those," he added, even quieter.

"What's wrong with them?" he asked in surprise, looking from the brightly colored pants to Itachi. He gave the brunette a onceover and gave a soft groan. "Oh, let me guess. You like boring colors, un."

"Preferably, yeah," he stammered out, so quiet that Deidara would have missed it if he hadn't had such good hearing.

Sighing exasperatedly, he put the pants back and made a show of grabbing a plain, dull color instead. They stopped at a few stores, Itachi following like a miserable shadow, but consented to carry the bags for Deidara until he finally shoved him into one of the bathrooms on the first floor. "Change," he commanded, climbing up to sit on the ledge behind the toilet and beamed. Itachi stared at him, then slowly turned to try and leave the stall. "No. Nope," Deidara chided, shaking his head. "Right here." He watched Itachi cringe and begin to strip out of his old clothes. "You have a beautiful body, why hide it?" he told him, grinning as he began to blush even more.

"I disagree," Itachi said quietly, quickly fastening his new jeans and pulled on a shirt. "I am not anything special. I don't understand your generosity."

Deidara observed him as he finished dressing and seemed to consider putting his old jacket on or the new one. He forced the amused grin back when Itachi glanced at him and put the new one on. Deidara was in a mood to appreciate obedience. "Don't look down on yourself so much," he said, hopping off the shelf and pressed his nose against the curve of his neck. "You're special enough to eat, un." He giggled when Itachi tried to jump back away from him, but he kept a firm grasp on his wrist. "Relax."

"I don't want to be eaten," Itachi said tensely, but he didn't fight Deidara's grasp.

"I was kidding," Deidara rolled his eyes at him.

"I don't want to be bitten either," the brunette added.

"It doesn't hurt," he reminded him, but the brunette shook his head with the cringe of cornered prey. He did want to taste him again. He could hear his heart beating, his fear of the blond making his scent stronger. With a small huff, Deidara reminded himself that he was not a weak newly made to succumb to tastes, but it would be best to get out of the confined stall. "Put your shoes on and throw those old things away, un. We have one more stop."

While he waited for Itachi outside, he called a driver service to transport the bags back to his mansion. No sense in carrying all of them with another stop to take. Itachi came up behind him, trying to be quiet, but Deidara heard his footsteps and smelled him as he stopped a few feet away. He wondered if he was considering running for it and almost wished he would. It's what he would have done. Though, he reminded himself, that hadn't worked out for him either. When the car pulled up, he gave his instructions to the driver to follow them to the next store and placed the bags into the car, then stood back to face Itachi.

"One more stop," he repeated, and Itachi followed him again down the streets to a grocery store. Once inside, Itachi tried to convince him to buy the cheap onigiri and sandwiches sitting on the shelves, but Deidara turned him down. Itachi had complained about nutrition, so he ignored his urging and read the labels of the various quick meals and snacks he had previously picked out. None of them looked very nutritious, but Itachi had been eating the dango when he'd met him. He had a sudden vague memory of dough cakes and hummed a little aloud to himself. Snacks.

He hadn't cooked a meal in quite a few years. Or perhaps it had been a few decades by now. But perhaps he should reawaken the skill if he was going to keep Itachi, at least until he learned to feed himself properly. Itachi might have complained about nutrition, but Itachi was far too thin to have much survival skills when it came to food. One aisle had a cooking magazine and perched himself on the small cart to flip through while Itachi pushed him until the blond began gathering a variety of ingredients suggested in the book. When he had selected everything, he paid for the items and dumped them into the waiting car, giving new instructions to take the bags to the apartment and paid the man for the service. He wanted to stay out longer and walk home. Itachi was once again standing off to the side, looking uncomfortable and seeming to be debating whether to run for it. The blond was a little annoyed. If he couldn't make up his mind, he could at least say 'thank you'. Thank yous were important.

It approached so quickly he barely had time to notice it. Stupid to let his guard down like that.

Spinning around as the car pulled off, Deidara snarled and leapt towards Itachi.

There was a woman walking down the street towards him, her eyes fixed on Itachi and his own on her. The curious expression on his face gave way to what she was attempting to do, but failing the same way Deidara had. The eyes of his kind pulled you in so that you knew nothing but them, relief from the fear of being hunted and the memory of feeding, but Itachi seemed completely immune to this, but she still held his attention. Perhaps as a source of danger. Unlike when Deidara had followed Itachi, the woman wasn't alone. It was a cheap hunting trick in Deidara's mind, a weakness to hunt in pairs unless it was a game – which he suspected this wasn't. The man was launching himself at Itachi as the woman held his gaze and the man was where Deidara struct, colliding into him and throwing him into a small alley between two buildings. The movement startled Itachi out of his staring, but Deidara only pushed him back against the building, ensuring the brunette's back was guarded while he faced the two.

"How dare you stop me from what is mine," the man threw at him in a quiet, but cold voice. The woman stood behind him, an obedient underling.

"Your rudeness overrules your right, un," Deidara snapped back in an equally cold voice. "I accept him as your apology."

"You are required to pay tribute to me!" the man growled. Smugness poured into Deidara's face. For such a well-established city, it's Master was far too new for his taste. In addition, Deidara was definitely far stronger than this Master, which made him think the man was also just stupid.

"As Master of the City, you are required to greet the arrivals," Deidara replied, straightening up in a display of relaxation. This Master was no threat to him, nor was his underling. Weak vampires for such a city. "I've chosen him as your apology."

"How dare—" the Master began as Deidara turned away from him, nudging Itachi to walk, but Deidara stopped to give him a backwards look and the man stopped talking at once. Deidara smirked at him. Maybe not so stupid.

Despite Itachi's hesitant stride, it was slightly longer than his own as they walked. Itachi kept glancing at him, then behind him, eyes begging for an explanation, but Deidara didn't give any, still angry. The Master of Tokyo, rude and pathetic? He wondered what had caused the last Master to die because she had ruled here much longer and was always polite and had taught him how to play kemari. Anyone who taught him a new game was good in his books. Itachi must have asked him something he hadn't heard lost in his thoughts because he reached out to place a hand on his shoulder in a gesture to get his attention, but Deidara grabbed it and sunk his teeth into his skin. Their sharpness pierced his skin with ease, but the venom poured into his system so the painful intake of breath changed almost instantly to a strangled moan Itachi tried to cover up in embarrassment. It was useless though, Deidara could smell the arousal one him.

It was rude to take without asking, but he was so agitated and Itachi's fear had been enticing him all night. His nervousness, his fear. It made his scent even stronger. He wanted so much more, but he forced himself to pull his teeth out of him and gave a gentle suck to the remaining drops of blood, holding his arm tightly as he felt Itachi's body shudder. Dragging him into the apartment, he gave a short nod to the man working the desk who informed him that his bags had been taken to his floor and stepped into the elevator.

"What did you do to me?" Itachi finally gasped, backing away to the wall. Or perhaps he was just using the wall to support him. When Deidara didn't answer, he stood up a little straighter, seeming to be fueled by some bravery. "Who was that? What are you people? You can't… barter people as payment!"

Not bravery, Deidara decided, watching the numbers ding to the fifteenth floor. Indignation. He almost laughed. "You'd be surprised what we can do," he told him, exiting the elevator and opening his door. The bags were waiting for them and he dragged them all into the house. "You're mine now."

Itachi followed him in, still looking as bristled as an inconvenienced cat. "I don't belong to anyone. What does that even mean? Who are you? What the hell is going on?" he demanded, fist clenched, but stubbornly standing his ground.

Deidara stopped placing the bags on the counter and looked up at him. Those dark red eyes were staring at him with intense ferocity. People ask questions without really wanting to know answers. They ask because they can't stand not knowing, but answers don't always bring the relief they hope for. Itachi was looking for relief. Some answer that brought sanity back into the situation he didn't understand. Deidara could see it in his eyes, but Deidara was a monster and couldn't put any sanity back in Itachi's life. Itachi would have to adapt on his own.

"Go to bed," he said shortly.

"What?" Itachi asked, looking taken aback.

"You slept at a desk, you need to sleep on a bed, un," Deidara stated, coming around the counter and herding him into the bedroom, dragging his new clothes into the room as well. "Bed. Now. Don't make me put you to sleep myself, un," he added with a growl, slamming the door shut on Itachi's confused and frustrated face.

He waited to see if Itachi would come out and protest, but he didn't. He listened to the brunette breath slowing to normal on the other side of the door and felt him make his decision and obey. The Master would try to retaliate, he knew. It was too close to sunrise for it to be tonight, unless the Master had other creatures at his disposal. Still. The building was warded against uninvited guests. Nothing would happen during the day unless Itachi tried to leave and now he wasn't sure if he wanted him to. Hunting him would be fun, but it would put him too close to danger now. He licked his lips, wishing he could still had some of his taste lingering there. No one else could be allowed to feed on Itachi now. The Tokyo vampires might kill him out of spite, and then Deidara could never taste him again. He turned away from the door with a soft whine, the very idea a miserable one.

Sitting at the kitchen counter, he flipped through the cooking magazine to find something tasty to make for his new human.


	4. Travels With a Vampire

It didn't taste bad. In fact, it was better than anything Itachi had tried to cook on the cheap, barely functioning stove in his apartment. The dirty pots and measuring utensils confirmed that the meal he found when he awoke – tamagoyaki, burger steak, salad, rice, soup and pickled vegetables – that Deidara had cooked for him. The gesture was nice, but overshadowed by the vast amount of cleaning left for Itachi to do because the blond seemed to have used every single pot and pan the kitchen possessed. Never the less, Itachi sat down at the kitchen counter and ate the food cooked for him. Deidara had left the magazine he had gotten the recipes from open on the counter, and saw how the blond had written over each of the recipes to note out much 'proper' nutrition the meal had and how much was healthy for Itachi.

He had woken up around one in the afternoon according to the stove and the dishes were finished by three. The entire two hours he had sat at the counter eating and cleaning the dishes, the innocent white door kept drawing his eye. He knew it was dangerous, but he wanted to know. He didn't care that the blond frightened him or that someone tried to attack them the night before. He hated not knowing. The glass he had finished drying was set down with a solid thunk onto the counter and he walked over to the door. He wondered if it was locked.

Touching the handle, he took a deep breath and turned it.

His heart quickened it's pounding.

It was unlocked.

Resolved to get answers, he pushed the door opened and stepped inside the unknown room. It was very dark. The only light source was from the lights filtering in from the main area, but it was just enough to see as his eyes adjusted. Even in the dark, he could tell the room was brightly painted. Like a child's room. The bed in the far corner of the room had an impressive collection of pillows and stuffed animals and one very still body. Itachi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his senses sending danger signals to his brain to try and make him leave that room. The body wasn't moving, but there was a soft sound permeating the stillness that vibrated in warning. Itachi ignored the sound and stared down at the body. He had only ever seen a body like this once and it was just as unnerving. To know there was another person in the room, but having no signs of life. No breath. No heartbeat. No shifting or gentle stirring of the muscles. He remembered going to the viewing. He had been so young. The casket had been closed from the public's view, but he knew who was inside. He knew it would be bad… The lid had been so heavy, but his small arms had managed to lift it. He just wanted to see her again.

The growling sound stopped suddenly and the room was completely silent.

"What's wrong? Why are you sad?"

The voice jerked him out of his thoughts and he stared afresh at the bed as something finally moved. It seemed as though the small motion was difficult and painful, but Deidara still turned his head in his direction.

"It's nothing," Itachi replied, swallowing back the memories that hounded him.

"What," Deidara began after a moment of silence, "are you doing in here, un?"

The question brought him back to his senses. Taking a step closer to the bed, he drew from the frustration he had felt that night and replied, "I want to know. Tell me."

The blond was silent for a few moments, then opened his eyes to stare up at him. Surprised, Itachi stared back. They weren't their sky blue anymore, but a dull, milky color as though he was blinded by injury or disease. As he watched, Deidara finally closed his eyes and took a breath to reply. "Shut the door. What do you want to know?"

Itachi hurried to obey, shutting the door and blocking out the light from the rest of the house. He started to take a step forward and realized he couldn't see anything anymore. Deidara seemed to sense his sudden concern. "Three steps forward and two steps to the right is a chair," the blond told him. Itachi hesitated then took the steps, reaching out to find the fabric of a stuffed chair.

He dragged it when Deidara spoke again to let him know where he was. His knees hit the side of the bed, but he sat down and tried to see the blond in the dark, but the blond gave a squeeze of small toy that gave off a soft blue light. Itachi frowned at it and gave Deidara an annoyed look. "You couldn't have turned that on sooner?" he asked quietly. Deidara gave a small grin, but didn't comment. "What's wrong with you?" Itachi asked, looking down at the blond. "You look … dead."

Deidara didn't answer for a moment, but slowly lifted his hand out towards him. Something seemed very, very wrong. Reaching out, he touched the outstretched arm, but quickly jerked his hand back. "You're a bastard for coming here now, you know," Deidara muttered under his breath, more to himself than to Itachi. Like he wasn't aware he was speaking it aloud. "When I can't throw you out."

The feeling was strange, he mused as he rubbed his fingers that had touched Deidara's arm against his thumb. When he had last touched Deidara, his skin had felt cool, but firm and strong, something he only just realized. Now, it felt like a wax figurine, cold as ice. Like he'd been outside in the winter with no coat. Or like … a corpse. He looked down at Deidara again, the little light up toy highlighting dark circles under the blond's closed eyes.

He wasn't breathing.

"Are you dead?" he asked, sitting back in the seat.

He watched the blond's chest rise as he took a breath. "Dead don't talk, un," Deidara snapped.

"You're only taking breath to speak," he stated.

The blond frowned with his lips scrunched to the side in a display of his irritation and Itachi knew he would get what he wanted. Whatever was wrong with Deidara, he was too tired to fight him. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, glad he was sitting rather than standing over him. It was strange to see Deidara like this. Itachi hadn't spent that much time with him, but he was sure that the blond was generally someone who liked to appear strong, but this was such a weak and pathetic state. He watched the blond put his thoughts together, then state in a resigned sort of way, "I'm a vampire."

"What?" he finally replied, staring down at him. He waited for him to laugh and tell him he was kidding, but nothing happened. Deidara remained distinctly still as death. "Really?"

"Yep," the blond replied, opening his mouth wide to show him the extended fangs. "Blood-drinking, corpse-during-the-day vampire."

"…Hm."

"Are you scared now?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," Itachi replied, honestly. He was nervous, but not really scared. It explained the biting. He was never one for paranormal things as a source of entertainment, but it was rather impossible to avoid everything in pop culture. "I feel as though I should be, and you could kill me, but you haven't yet, so I don't know… Those packets are extra blood… in case you can't get any?"

"Yes," Deidara murmured, bringing his arm back under the blankets. "When the sun is high in the sky I'm unable to move, un."

"Do you burn up in the sunlight?" Itachi asked curiously.

"No," the blond replied. "Not like in movies, un. The sunlight burns vampires, not unlike a sunburn that you would get. But what would happen to you if you stayed outside in the sun on a beach for eight hours with no shade or protection for you is five minutes for me, un. It is unbearable."

Itachi watched him open his eyes for a moment then close them again. He looked so tired – not even tired, passed tired, run down and exhausted. He seemed even worse since he had come in, as though talking had exhausted him more. Itachi didn't say anything in response, not wanting to make it worse. Minutes stretched into an hour. Deidara appeared to be sleeping. Still as a statue. A corpse on a death bed.

A vampire.

What kind of bad luck did he have? His family, the foster homes, Deidara. He was a magnet for trouble. At least he understood why Deidara had kidnapped him now. Why there were packets of blood in the fridge. He was Deidara's food, fresh food. That night he'd first met Deidara, he had fed on Itachi and when he had bitten him his body had—

The brunette shuddered at the thought and the movement was noticed by Deidara.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," he told him, shaking his head. To keep Deidara from asking about it, he changed the subject. "Who was that man from last night? With the woman with the grey eyes."

"Did she have grey eyes?"

"Yeah, it didn't look like contacts."

Deidara made a soft murmuring sound, then thought for a moment. "The man is the Master of the City, the head vampire of the vampire's territory here. He's prideful of his position."

"You need his permission to be here?"

"Um… yes and no," Deidara replied. "Its customary to ask permission if you're going to hunt, un. But it's also expected to be greeted when you arrive. I've been here for some time and never received a formal greeting. That's rude, right? I'm a strong vampire, he should have greeted me cause sucking up is a good way to make sure you keep your position and a stronger vampire isn't going to try taking over, un. I don't think we should stroke his ego, so we're leaving tonight."

Itachi stared at him, sitting up straighter. "What?" Leaving? What did he mean by leaving? "We?" He had never been outside the city before. Did he mean him as well? Did he mean to another city or leaving the country? He didn't have a passport. Deidara scared him a lot. Terror slid through his veins when he thought about the blond, but the thought of being left behind… No one had ever wanted him before… even if Deidara only kept him for food, it felt nice to be wanted.

"If I leave you, the Master will attempt to take you back into his possession. Technically you already were, since you lived in his territory, but it's his own fault for not finding something like you for himself, un," Deidara said, cheeks puffing indignantly. "I prefer to keep you for myself, un."

"Why? I'm not that special," Itachi said quietly.

"You are unique," Deidara murmured. "I've never tasted anything like you before, un."

Itachi clamped his mouth shut and looked down at his hands. A food bank.

"Would you rather stay here for them to find you?" Deidara asked when Itachi didn't reply.

"No," he responded.

"Then go pack a suitcase of your new clothes," Deidara instructed. "There is one of the bottom of the coat closet by the door, un. Your treasures are in the study… feel free to take a book or two for the trip. It'll be a long flight."

"Okay," Itachi said, obediently standing to walk to the door.

"And Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"Before the sun sets, heat up one of those packets for me, un."

Stepping into the study, he saw the desk clear of books and video games that had been left out last time he had entered the room and found neat piles of things that had been inside of his apartment. He wondered briefly how the blond had found the address, but decided not to question it. It was an abysmal pile of possessions compared to the wealth this mansion displayed, but Itachi reached out to touch each carefully. The most important one sat by itself in the middle of the pile, placed there by the blond perhaps because it was one of the things he had specifically mentioned to be worried about. He picked it up and gave the smiling faces of his parents and brother a sad one of his own. He wondered if he'd be able to go to the graveyard to say good bye to them, but the blond's insistence on leaving as soon as the sun set made him think that wouldn't be possible. He looked at his books sitting on the desk and wondered if they'd be worth taking. At his notebooks and pens and study supplies. There were no clothes, he noted, except for his school shoes, which perhaps Deidara deemed nice enough to take with them. Gathering them all, he went into the bedroom and did as he was told, packing his suitcase with the frame carefully tucked between soft clothes to keep it safe.

He wondered if he should tell Deidara that he didn't have a passport to leave Japan, but also wondered if perhaps the airport security would rescue him from the monsters he'd gotten involved with. When the sun finally set and he needed to turn the lights on in the mansion, the blond rose and they left for the airport by a car that picked them up in the underground garage. Deidara packed no bags except for the messenger bag he had been wearing when they met and a small shopping bag of things he had purchased during his short stay and didn't offer to help Itachi lug the suitcase into the car or out of it as they arrived at the airport. Deidara handed him a ticket and he saw they were indeed leaving the country, yet at every checkpoint they came to, no one asked him for his passport. He found this very odd until they were being checked in at the gate to get on. The woman had asked for Deidara's passport and after scanning it and his ticket, she handed it back then stared at the blond in a dazed sort of way, blinking a little then asked Itachi for his. He stared back at her, wondering what to do, but the blond took his ticket from him and handed it to her. She scanned the ticket, then made the motion of scanning a passport and handed the ticket back to him, welcoming him politely and thanking him for flying with them.

"What did you just do?" he asked as they walked down the makeshift hallway to the plane.

"Nothing," Deidara said with an air of innocence that reeked of falsehood.

He was flummoxed when he realized they were sitting in first class, Deidara happily allowing the attendant to stow his carry on since he couldn't reach the overhead bin. Itachi stared around his own small cubby and then at Deidara who had come to visit him from his own, grinning in a mischievous sort of way. The blond showed him how to play with everything in the cubby, acting thrilled by everything, but based on his knowledge of all the features, Itachi suspected Deidara used first class a lot. Maybe the blond was just excited about everything. He wondered where the blond got all this money from. Did vampires have jobs? As the crew instructed everyone to please take their seats, Deidara informed him that he could order anything on the menu and told him – with a threatening look that didn't hold any danger in it – that he had better order at least three meals off it, before tugging his headphones on and began searching for a movie to watch. Itachi did as he was told and ordered food that tasted amazing. He wondered if this was just because it was first class or if people exaggerated how bad airplane food was.

They exchanged planes in Dubai and this time the two of them sat next to one another on a much smaller plane. Itachi's inner clock was completely ruined as it had been just after midnight when they had taken off and even though it had been a ten-hour flight, it was only just after five in the morning. He slept a little while on the chairs while they waited during their layover, but found himself too tired to sleep more than a small nap. He was hungry when they took off again and Deidara grumpily berated Itachi for not reminding him that he needed to eat.

"Itachi," the blond said, starting him out of his staring out the window – though there wasn't much to see. "When we land in Athens, I have a job for you."

Itachi sat up straighter, looking down at the blond slouched bad postured in his own seat. "What is it?" he asked.

"The sun will be rising when we land in Athens, un. I will have to use all my energy to get off the plane, so I need you to retrieve your luggage and take it to the hotel near the airport and check in. Then you come back and get me, un."

"Get my bag, check into the hotel, and get you," Itachi repeated to make sure he had it right. Deidara nodded with a smile and startled the brunette by pulling his head down to use his lap as a pillow. Itachi didn't fight it, knowing it was useless. Deidara was too strong and though his body was cooler than it should have been, his lap was reasonably comfortable. "Which hotel?"

"There's just one main one. But you'll have to take me outside," he added, making a face. "Just run fast."

Long, thin fingers played in his hair absentmindedly, pushing it off his forehead and cooling his skin. It reminded Itachi of the way his mother would comfort him, even when he didn't really want it. He had always been very independent, loving to his mother, but he didn't have time to be snuggled in her arms like his little brother loved to do. He liked to see how happy his brother was in his mother's arms, but for himself, he preferred little pieces of affection – pats on the head, kisses on his forehead, strokes of his hair. Just as Deidara was doing now. He hadn't felt this in…so long. It felt like his body was sighing in relief of the gently touch of another person, deprived of it for so many years. Despite the lack of anything from the blond's body – no heartbeat or movement of breath, he found it comforting somehow.

"My mother used to play with my hair like that," Itachi murmured, closing his eyes. "It feels nice."

"Oh?" Deidara's voice was quiet as he continued the gentle petting. "Tell me about her."

Itachi stilled for a moment, then sighed in a resigned sort of way. He hadn't talked to anyone about his family in years. The police had questioned him and the state had issued him a therapist for the first month while he was placed in a foster home. Every so often someone would become interested in the case again and track him down to beg him to relive the event. It was never a pleasant experience. "She's dead. She died when I was six," Itachi told him, and there was a long, waiting pause. Deidara wanted to hear more. Itachi wasn't sure he wanted to talk, but found the words coming out anyway, one after another. "My parents were murdered… someone broke into our family's house and killed everyone – my extended family lived with us in the complex. They killed everyone… saved my family for last – my parents were the head of the family. I hid under my father's work desk, but he never found me… I should have been in bed with my…" he swallowed thickly, "my brother."

Deidara was silent for a while, fingers still dragging through his hair. Itachi wondered what he was thinking and, feeling foolish, wondered if he realized what he had been doing in the park with a meal and toy for a child. "How strange," the blond finally commented. Itachi glanced up at him and saw him frowning thoughtfully. "They never found you?"

"No… the police couldn't figure that out either," Itachi replied, turning his head back to gaze at the back of the seat in front of them. "My parents were killed and …there was blood everywhere like they had dragged body… pieces through the complex… they never found my brother's… they never found my brother," he closed his eyes and clamped his jaw shut, trying to force those thoughts back into the dark corner of his mind. When it didn't upset him, the memory of it confused him. He remembered the figure moving around, missing him at every pass as he sat huddled and shaking under the desk. His parents had been murdered right in front of him, why? He didn't think his parents were bad people. They didn't deserve it, not at all. His baby brother… if he hadn't gotten out of bed, he'd have been with his brother. What could a six-year-old have done? It didn't matter, he had left his brother alone and they never found his body, but there was so much carnage all over the complex where the Uchihas all lived, it was impossible to determine if his remains were among them. They announced Itachi alone. No parents, no siblings, no relatives. He was a ward of the state and had been for twelve years. Twelve years and four days ago.

"I wonder why he never found you, un," Deidara mused aloud, pulling him from his thoughts. "Were you hiding well?"

"No, I was just under my father's desk," Itachi replied blandly, the same thing he had to repeat over and over again when someone became overly interested in the case.

"Where was your brother?"

"Asleep in … in my bed," Itachi said, squeezing his eyes shut again. "He had had a nightmare and wanted to sleep with me. Mother tucked us in, then went downstairs, but I couldn't sleep again… I went downstairs and saw them. I was scared and hid under the desk and it killed them."

"It?"

"He, I don't know," Itachi said, pulling his hand up to rub his temple. "It was a long time ago, I don't want to talk about it anymore." He peeked back to look up at Deidara to see if he was irritated, but the blond was frowning absentmindedly out the window. He wondered what he was thinking about, wondering if the mystery intrigued him as it had the detectives who prodded him for information and details until Itachi's sleeping and waking hours were spent reliving the moment he'd like to forget. He wanted to know what was going on inside of Deidara's head, but he didn't want to ask. It sounded rude and invasive, plus if he was thinking about what happened, he didn't want more questions. Deidara's fingers were still rubbing through his hair, pulling his mind free of its worries and thoughts and caused him to begin drifting to sleep, curled over his seat and Deidara's lap.

"Itachi."

"Hm?"

"What's your full name?" Deidara asked.

"Uchiha Itachi," he answered. "Ah… Itachi Uchiha here, I suppose." When there was no reply, he finally fell asleep and slept until the lights of the cabin turned on and the pilot announced their descent. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he sat up and stretched with a slight yawn. Wondering what sort of place they were arriving in, he reached out to open the window of the airplane, but the blond's hand snapped out and gripped his arm tightly. His automatic reaction was to fight it, but Deidara's grip was too tight.

"The sun is up," the blond breathed out, eyes closed. "We'll be landing in a few minutes. There's a booklet in your jacket. Give it to customs."

"You're hurting me," Itachi murmured, trying to force himself to stop fighting the painful grip on his arms. The blond finally released him as the flight assistant gave them permission to get up and leave the plane.

As he'd been instructed, Itachi went to the luggage area to collect his bag. Going through customs was a nightmare. He couldn't speak Greek, and his English was very minimal. Deidara hadn't told him how to get through customs. He didn't know what to say when the custom's officer asked him what he was doing for his trip, but he hand him the booklet Deidara had said was in his pocket. After a long debate that went back and forth where he grew more and more conscious of the people waiting behind him, they settled on 'vacation'. He didn't want to look suspicious as he left, but bolted as quickly as possible away from the humiliating scene. It was equally nerve wrecking watching the bags go by. What if someone picked up his bag? What if there was a mix up when they changed planes? What if it had gotten – no, there it was, coming out of the opening flaps on the belt. His next stop was the airport hotel. He had to go outside over a covered bridge to get to it, but he still had to figure out a way to get Deidara into the hotel. It was difficult to check in, but he handed the booklet to the clerk and after examining it and typing a little on her computer, her expression changed to one of understanding and he was able to check in.

He was so tired of saying 'sorry' that when he arrived at the hotel room, he had the strongest urge to shut himself in and leave Deidara in the airport. To calm his anxiety, he looked at the booklet and realized it was a passport, but the name and picture was not his own, though the man in the picture had dyed blond hair, so he supposed they could pass as one another by someone who didn't look very close. He wondered where Deidara had gotten it from, then realized he had probably stolen it. Itachi gave a soft groan, feeling bad for poor Nakamura Yuusuke who would be missing his passport, maybe trapped somewhere in the airport. He didn't want to go back inside the building, but he didn't think Deidara would appreciate being left and, after putting his suitcase in the closet, the stolen passport on the nightstand, and the keycard into his pocket, he began retracing his steps back into the airport.

The vampire had vanished quite suddenly after they had gotten off the plane, Itachi assumed he was looking for a hiding place from the sun, but he hoped the blond had the sense to not hide inside the barriers of the airport. Where would he hide? The airport was very open with floor to ceiling windows letting in the morning light. There weren't many places to hide. Wait, the bathrooms. He turned and looked for one, trying the closet one, but saw no one. He tried three different men's rooms before he found one that gave him a bad feeling. It seemed like just another bathroom, but people kept passing it, looking back at the opening as if it gave them a bad feeling as well. Itachi didn't want to go in, but he did. It seemed empty, but the wheel chair accessible stale was closed and, peering down, he recognized Deidara's shoes and carefully worked the lock to open it, freezing as he began to enter.

Deidara wasn't alone.

Cuddled in his lap was a man, dressed in business casual clothes, moaning softly as Deidara suckled on his neck. He was beyond struggle, his pants stained with the effects of Deidara's bite, his skin, pale and sickly from blood loss. Deidara had nearly drained him dry. A low growl rose from the blond's mouth as Itachi entered the enclosure, like a dog warning someone to stay away from their toy. Itachi glanced back at the entrance to the airport and stepped the rest of the way into the stall against his better judgement.

"Everything is ready," he told the blond, knowing he couldn't hide his own fear. "I can take you up to the room now."

The growling slowly died and Deidara retracted his teeth from the man's skin, shoving him to the side. He licked and sucked on his lips to get the drips of blood off them, then raised his arms like a small child. After a confused moment, Itachi knelt and lifted the blond up into his arms. It felt very strange to hold him like this – the blond was small, but he was still teenager sized. The way he wrapped his arms and legs around him made him easier to carry, but the way he had his mouth nuzzled close to his neck was terrifying after seeing him devouring the man on the floor. At least he knew now that it wasn't just his own unnatural perversion that threw his body into reactionary pleasure and orgasm when Deidara bit him. Perhaps it was something in his fangs that caused the reaction that prevented someone from taking the bite badly. Deidara was mostly fine until they had to step into the light and walk across the bridge. When the sunlight hit him, he made a horrible animalistic noise in his throat and buried himself against Itachi. He tried his best, but Itachi couldn't completely hide him from the sun and it wasn't until they were inside the hotel room and Itachi had pulled the curtains closed did he stop making that horrible noise.

His plan had been to place Deidara on the bed and go to the other side of the room until the blond was able to move again, but as soon as he touched the bed, the blond jerked him down and crawled on top of him weakly. He protested, but Deidara had him pinned down and was taking little sniffs of breath against his neck, his tongue slipping out to lick his skin every so often. Terrified, Itachi lay there, staring at the ceiling hoping the day would pass quickly and Deidara wouldn't be hungry when he was able to move again.


	5. The Island and the Visitor

Never before had he seen such a beautiful sight. Everything was so incredible, Itachi had to pause every so often just to make a complete turn to look at everything. It was a little before noon. The day couldn't be more perfect. The house they were staying in was in a small fishing village on a tiny island off a bigger island of Greece. The village itself was built into a hill that was practically a rocky cliff face. There were no cars and the roads were paved with cobble stones that had been worn flat from centuries of use. All the houses were white washed stone and there was a constant smell of fish in the air, but it wasn't the overwhelming stench of a fishing port. The air smelled of flowers from the gardens around him that spilled over the shoulder level garden walls and the salty ocean that could be seen, a clearer blue than the cloudless sky, from nearly every point in the village. The air was so clear his city choked lungs couldn't get enough. He wanted to just run. Run faster than he'd ever run before. Run just for the joy of running and breathing, but he forced himself to walk slower so he could take this alien world in.

They had arrived late, around four in the morning. Then they had taken a boat out to the smaller island and Deidara had smiled at the man at the ticket counter when they stepped off, cut his hand with a knife and smeared it across the glass window. Itachi had watched in horror and confusion as the stranger smiled and bowed his head before allowing them to pass the dock. Deidara had offered no explanation and they had taken a long walk up to the house they were staying in. It had been so dark, he couldn't see anything except the blond in front of him, but he could smell it and it caused him to slow his steps, taking deep inhales. Deidara had been patient, walking slower himself so Itachi hadn't fallen behind. The blond hadn't said much to Itachi since the hotel room. When the sun had set, he had tried to convince Itachi to 'play' with him before their flight left and Itachi had refused without bothering to find out what the blond was referring to. When they reached the house, Deidara lit a candle and offered Itachi his own room, but Itachi had decided to stay with him as the sun began its climb, though Itachi had been asleep for it. He didn't want to be rude. Deidara had spent a lot of money on him already. He had woken up to Deidara still as death on the other side of the bed and a tray of assorted wafers, cookies, a small loaf of bread wrapped in plastic, and a single hardboiled egg.

He wondered how long Deidara had been a vampire that he didn't understand human food consumption.

Slipping his hand into his pockets, he felt the money Deidara had left for him with a note to use it for lunch. There was no map, but Itachi liked that. He wanted to wander and learn the village on his own. He had never been to a place like this before. He walked down to the docks to watch the people there. People working on their boats or fishing off the piers. Not too far away was the market where people sold their catch to the locals as well as the vegetables they grew themselves. As he walked through the venders he realized with a hint of annoyance that he was not going to get any meal with Deidara's money. This wasn't a place that had shops. This was a place where people cooked all their meals at home.

He wondered if he could purchase vegetables and just eat them raw, when a woman reached out and touched his arm. It was an older woman, with a face of wrinkles and warm smiles. She spoke to him and it sounded like a question, but he couldn't answer and could only apologize, not knowing even what language he should use. She didn't seem perturbed and simple spoke kindly to him and took him by the elbow, handing him bags full of food she had purchased. Confused, he tried to protest, but she walked away and he had to follow her out of the market and up the streets before they entered a garden where an older man was tending a rose bush.

He sputtered when he realized he was being brought into their home and tried to explain to the woman that he didn't want to be a bother, but she made an exclamation at him that made it quite clear she didn't want to hear it. She sat him down at a small table outside in the warm, comfortable sun and placed a pile of vegetables and a knife in front of him. Not understanding the word of instruction, she picked up the knife and began peeling one of the root vegetables. She then pointed at him and returned the knife before stalking inside while removing her hat. The older man gave an affectionate sort of chuckle as he smiled at Itachi and said something he didn't understand.

He didn't like this at all, but dutifully cut the vegetables. He didn't want to intrude on them, and when a few children came hurrying exclaiming greeting and leaping onto the old man, he started to tell them that he should leave. The man wouldn't have it and set the kids on him. Children… Itachi liked children. He smiled at their beaming faces as they clutched at his arms and legs, gabbling with the unmistakable plea for play. He caved to their begging and played with them until they were called to set the table on the patio and together they ate.

They would not take his money after they ate and as the children left to return to where ever they had been, Itachi tried to help clean up, but the two elders refused his help and shooed him out of their garden again, pushing into his hand a parcel of warm cookies. He couldn't stand not giving them something in thanks and left a good portion of the money in the mail box attached to their garden wall.

Cookies in hand, he walked back down to the docks and climbed over the rocks where he could sit comfortably in the sun and watch the docks. He peeled off his shoes and socks so he could dip his feet in the cool water. Water so clear he could see the little crabs crawling in the rocks under the water. This place was amazing. It was almost worth anything Deidara did to him to be brought to this paradise. He had never felt so relaxed before. He felt as though a place like this was something he'd been craving his whole life. He felt healed. He never wanted to go back to a congested city. Japan was beautiful. He loved Japan. Today, though… he found himself not missing it. He was…

He was…

Happy.

He leaned back against the rocks, surprised by the feeling. He couldn't remember feeling happy since that night. Here he was, his feet dangling in the ocean, warm cookies in his lap, and a smile on his face. He would have to thank Deidara for this some time. He hadn't really done anything, except walk around and eat dinner with a strange family, but he was having the time of his life. He wondered if he should go someplace else, but it was so nice out, his feet felt nice sloshing around in the water. The sun was beginning its slow descent and Deidara would be waking up soon and he didn't know how long it would take to find the house again.

Just five more minutes, he told himself, eating a cookie.

"Itachi," someone called to him. He tried to answer, but he was so tired and his muscles were cold. So very cold. Why was he so cold? He had been so nice and warm just a few moments ago. Something touched his face. Something wrapped around him. Arms perhaps. Someone was lifting him up.

Cracking his eyes open he tried to focus, but even his eyes were too tired to try seeing in the darkness. Something moved into his vision. A pale face, eyes the blue of the sky framed in dark lashes. He knew those eyes. "Deidara," he breathed out, his voice thick with sleep. He was so thirsty. Wait… why was Deidara here? It was still daylight, he would burn up. Tearing his eyes away from those old, ageless eyes and looked passed the blond. The city was always so bright, so many lights that even during a blackout, the sky was still hazy with light. The night here … it was full of stars. More than he ever knew existed with his own eyes.

"Amazing…"

"What is it?" Deidara asked him, the slight rocking back and forth made him feel as though Deidara was walking, but he couldn't take his eyes off the sky.

"The stars," he murmured. "It's so beautiful…"

"Itachi, did you get drunk while you were out today, un?" Deidara asked with a smile in his voice.

"No… just milk… and water…. What's a…" he thought for a moment, trying to gather his fogging thoughts, "en'gonashi?"

"En'gonashi?" Deidara repeated, confused.

"I met an old woman… she brought me to her house and I ate with her family. They kept saying…" he blinked slowly, trying to keep his eyes open.

"Ah…engonós," Deidara said. "It means grandson… were you adopted in one afternoon?"

The blond looked down as his human gave a slight giggle at his words. Itachi was slightly delirious, the morning had stayed out in the sun without any water for too long. With a shake of his head, he took him into the bedroom and laid him down on the soft sheets. While he was still not in control of himself because of his dehydration and sleepiness, Deidara stripped him of his clothes to examine the mess he had put himself in. Sun burned. He clicked his tongue to scold him softly. Getting up, he went into the kitchen to get water and then the bathroom to retrieve aloe gel from the bathroom. Itachi was watching him from the bed, but Deidara doubted he was registering anything, just following the movements in the room.

"Tell me about the family," Deidara said, sitting on the bed and began to apply the gel to Itachi's skin.

"It was a grandmother and… husband and their grandchildren came over I think. I helped cook… the food was so delicious. You… You left me snacks again, you know…"

Deidara made an annoyed face, glaring at the bag of things he had purchased from the store before getting on the boat. Why in the world did humans keep snacks in places where there was food? Huffing about the stupidity of humans, he forced the brunette to drink the bottle of water, ignoring his complaints that he didn't want to drink anything, that the water was too cold. He coaxed him to drink four more until he decided he had had enough for now and didn't want to make him sick.

It would take him weeks for his skin to recover from the sunburn. Idiot. But it was also his fault. Damnit. He should have told him, but didn't he know about the sun? He looked down at him, watching him fall back asleep and gave a soft groan. This human was different than other humans he took home, but he just smelled so good, he couldn't help wanting to keep him. He was smart, he could tell he was smart, but he was wobbling around like a newborn puppy. Putting his finger to his mouth, he bit down on it then slipped the bleeding digit into Itachi's mouth. He wasn't going to have him out of commission for weeks.

It was only ten, the sun had disappeared into the ocean, but the night had already cooled down considerably. The street lamps with their bowls of oil soaked wicks that would keep the flames burning until runners put them out when the sun began its rise. The whitewashed walls were cast with the orange glow they emitted, and shadows of the fishermen walking home, greeted by their families with a hearty evening meal. This town was so old, protected by spells from danger, but also from the aggressive progress of modernization. Normally, this slow life was something he detested, but the island was so peaceful that it was nearly impossible not to be drawn in. Hunting was not allowed on this island. Enemies were to temporarily cease their conflict until they were off the island, protected by ancient magic. Any supernatural beings that lived here were old creatures and ones who didn't require certain diets like he did. Young vampires didn't come here. But he was not a young vampire.

He heaved a great sigh and glanced back at the house. Ever since Itachi had told him about his parents' murder, it had been plaguing him. It didn't make any sense to him. What a strange event. He had never heard of something like that happening in the human side of the world. He had played the scene he had created over and over from what Itachi had told him. If the intruder had slaughtered his parents and younger brother, why had Itachi been left alive? Was it so someone could tell the story, to add to the murder's success? If so, why had he left him not only alive, but unharmed? Itachi had said the murderer couldn't find him though, which made even less sense then. There were creatures that liked to slaughter humans, but he doubted any would leave someone behind. It sounded a bit like magic to Deidara, but Itachi didn't smell like magic. Magic had such a strong smell the lingered for decades, and through generations. Even a distant descendent of a witch smelled like magic. Itachi just smelled like a human.

Perhaps he was thinking close-mindedly. Just because he was old didn't mean he knew everything, but it was nagging at the back of his mind. A puzzle to be solved. It really didn't sound like a human attack, but why would a supernatural creature target an entire family and leave one behind? Just one? He paused at a crossroads, thinking. Itachi had said that his brother's body had never been recovered. If it was magic, maybe he had been hiding just like Itachi had been and hadn't been found.

But Itachi didn't smell like magic, he argued with himself irritably.

But, he argued back, what was that human saying? If it quacks like a duck… He never really understood that saying. Itachi didn't smell like magic, so he had no connection to magic. Still, he really wanted to know what had happened and would go crazy if he didn't find a distraction soon.

He was beginning to wonder if he could find someone to tell him a new story he hadn't heard – old creatures were full of stories, when a scent reached his nose. It was an old scent of sand and a hint of oak and pine. It was a pleasant scent, but it made him freeze. It didn't make him relax with the familiarity of it. Rather, it made him want to turn on his heel and storm back to his house and barricade himself in, but it was too late for that. The source of the scent was a being he could never hide from, not completely. He knew he was here. Running was pointless, so he waited, hopping up to perch himself on the high stone wall.

 _'Hello, Deidara. It's been a while. Have you been avoiding me?'_

"No more than you avoid anything that can move on its own, un," Deidara replied aloud to the monotone in his head. He heaved a sigh and looked down at the figure turning the corner, looking up at him with honey brown eyes that glittered in the street lights. The face was blank of emotion, though the corner of that mouth was upturned slightly. It looked out of place on his face. A face that never learned to smile properly.

"I think you forget that I can always find you."

"I don't forget, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to hide," Deidara reminded him. "What are you doing here, Sasori-danna? Spying on me?"

The redhead jumped up next to him on the stone wall as easily as taking a step, sliding down to sit beside him. "No, it was a coincidence," Sasori replied, lacing his fingers together to rest on his knees. "I was just passing through. I didn't expect you to return here so soon. You prefer cities to these quiet little villages." Deidara didn't answer his musings. He hated that Sasori knew him so well. It wasn't as if the two of them spent large amounts of time together. Maybe once, centuries ago, but Sasori always knew more than he let on. He wondered if Sasori was lying about passing through. Why would he be here, except to spy on him? Was it coincidence, so soon after finding Itachi?

"You smell of humans," Sasori stated, breaking the silence between them. He felt Sasori shift his head towards him without facing him to get a better sniff. "One human… in particular…. Have you picked up another stray pet again?"

"Not everyone enjoys total solitude, un," Deidara miffed, grumbling under his breath.

"Of course," Sasori said, amusement in his voice. "You are one of the few beings that have experienced solitude, but you do not appreciate it."

Deidara glared at the opposite wall, his posture slouching down in the contorted position most commonly seen on vultures. Sasori loved being alone. He hated being close to people unless there was some gain in it for himself. He hated people. He never understood Deidara's love of being around people, being known, being acknowledged. Deidara loved these things. Deidara had friends. Sasori had contacts.

"So, who are you with?" Sasori inquired, breaking his silent thoughts again.

"Mine," Deidara said as firmly as he could. Itachi was his and he was not going to share. Sasori was as unpredictable as he was. He had a tendency to dispose of his victims for entertainment. He grew bored with them. There was really only one of Sasori's own that had survived him. And survived was a very broad term.

The redhead finally turned to look at him, staring him down and Deidara's defenses flew up in an intense battle of wills. Deidara was a Master Vampire, just as Sasori was. They would have been equal, despite their difference in age, but Sasori had something on him that made him back down almost as soon as the battle began.

"Yours is mine, too," Sasori reminded him.

"No, it's not," Deidara growled at him. "That's your rule, un. Not a fact." Pressing his palms down on the smoothed by the sea wind stones, he dropped down off the wall. "I keep my own and don't bother yours. I want you to do the same, un. Besides. You wouldn't like him anyway. He's smart, and thinks for himself."

Sasori made a noise that made him turn around to stare in shock at the ageless eleven-year-old. Did he just chuckle? "I like you," Sasori answered his silent question after a second-long thought.

What a strange sentiment. He wasn't sure if he felt honored or horrified. The fact that Sasori, who hated everyone and thought that every person that walked on the planet of their own free will was stupid, referred to his liking him because of his brain and ability to think made him feel special and happy. And scared. Something wasn't right. Sasori had willingly left him last time they had spoken, he hadn't run away. Why did he seek him out? He had sat with him and spoken to him, basically asked him how he had been without using those words. Something wasn't right…

"Stop trying to get into my head, Deidara," Sasori said. "Go back to your pet."

"Why are you here?" Deidara asked him, turning to stare at him better, feeling the barrier between them.

"Passing through."

He waited, watching that porcelain face for a twitch of muscle under the smooth outer covering. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. Sasori was staring up at the sky like he was watching for a godly sign in the stars. The moonlight made his skin tinged in blue and his hair, so violently red, appeared a dark shade of maroon that clouded his eyes with shadowed, but Deidara could see him. Perhaps not with his eyes, but the wall that no one could get over was more of a fence between them. No matter how strongly they kept each other out, there were still holes that things slipped out between them. Something was not right.

"If I told you," Sasori began, dropping his gaze from the sky to stab him with his piercing glare, "that you were sensing your own concern in my thoughts, would you stop?"

Deidara gave a snort of laughter. "No," he replied, turning away from him to leave, hearing the soft tap of shoes landing on the ground as Sasori began to follow him.

 _'Then stay out…'_

The bark was rough under his fingers, scraping the skin as he continued to climb. One branch after another, his shoulders straining as he hoisted himself up. The branches thinned and he climbed closer to the trunk. The pine needles scratched his grinning face. The tree swayed as it took on this unexpected weight, but he clung tightly and moved with the tree to keep from it bending dangerously. Finally, his head broke the top of the trees and his small arms gripped the tip of the tree as he swayed in the wind, breathing in the pine tree smell and distant burning wood smoke from the village below.

Itachi opened his eyes and wondered if he had. What a strange dream… Reaching up, he rubbed his eyes and opened them wider, but he still couldn't see. He had a vague memory of falling asleep on the rocks by the pier and Deidara calling to him. He must have carried Itachi back to the house and was in the room with no windows. He felt around on the bed, but Deidara wasn't there with him, so it must be night time and the blond was out. He took a deep breath and felt the strain of his skin stretching and his muscles sore from sleeping outside in the sun. What an idiot…

He thought about the dream again, and rubbed his fingers together, remembering the feel of the pine tree. It had felt so real, but he couldn't remember ever climbing a tree before. He suddenly became aware of the sound of singing and realized that had been what had awoken him. He listened to the lyrical voices for a moment, wondering about them, then slowly sat up. He realized there was something in his hand and, feeling it, realized it was a phone. He pushed a button and watched the screen light up, blindingly bright in the darkness. There was a number already dialed on the screen. He wondered if he did it himself in his sleep, or Deidara had left him a way to contact him.

He pushed the call button and lifted the phone to his ear. It rang twice before it was picked up, the familiar voice chirping through the ear piece. "How are you feeling?" Deidara asked. "I forgot to tell you to put on lotion and drink lots of water, un."

"Sore… and uncomfortable," Itachi admitted, suddenly realizing he was naked under the sheets and resisted the urge to groan. What had Deidara done to him when he was out?

"I imagine… you fell asleep on those rocks by the water," the blond informed him. "You're sunburned… I left you some breakfast and a few bottles of water on the dresser. Please drink as much as possible and sleep some more."

"Okay," Itachi said, not sure of what to say to him. A low mumble on the other side of the line made him think Deidara wasn't alone. Maybe it was Deidara's dinner. Or a friend? After the first mumble, there was silence on both ends of the phone in which Itachi grew a little uncomfortable. He felt like he should be saying something, but he didn't know how to socialize with people. He wondered if Deidara was waiting for him to say something or communicating something with the other person on the line. "Are you with…?"

"Hm?"

"Um, never mind," Itachi said, then quickly changed the subject, "where is that music coming from?" The silence on the other end of the phone turned sharply from awkward to stunned. Even the other presence he sensed had gone silent. Could they hear him too? He hadn't said it very loudly, but it seemed to be so. Both of them were dead silent for a long moment which made him wonder if he said something wrong.

When the blond finally answered it was in a quiet, cautious voice. "What music?"

Itachi frowned and pulled the phone away from his ear. The words were still hanging in the air, musical without instruments because the words themselves were the instruments. "You don't hear that?" he asked, feeling foolish for asking.

"No, I don't," Deidara replied in a curious tone. "Maybe I'm not close enough to the house."

"Maybe… Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," Itachi said. "I'll see you when you come back. Have a good night with your…friend?"

There were two sets of soft chuckles in the earpiece. "Friend is stretching it a bit," Deidara told him. "Rest well. I'll bring you more food when the sun rises. Unless you want me to come back now, un?"

Itachi shook his head automatically, then realized Deidara couldn't, of course, see it. "I'm fine," the brunette assured him. "I'll just go back to sleep."

He could almost hear the smile on Deidara's face as he replied, "sleep well."

Using the light from the cellphone, he found the bottle of water and drank them as instructed, but looked a little miserably at the bowl of candy colored cereal waiting for him. Maybe he should start leaving lists of things he liked to eat for the blond. The sugary puffs were a far cry from the delicious meal he had eaten in that old woman's house. 'Grandson'. He smiled a little and carefully set the phone, screen up, so he could see to pull on clothes, embarrassed that the blond had undressed him in his sleep. Deidara had told him he had a nice body and shouldn't be so embarrassed about it, but he disagreed. He was nothing but average.

As his head came through the shirt, he paused and listened with a frown. He wasn't imagining it. The music was clear, but it wasn't close by. It sounded far away. Despite the tenderness of his skin, he tied his hair back and picked up the last bottle of water to drink as he slipped through the house to put his shoes on so he could go outside.

It was dark, but the streets were illuminated by the burning lamps that sat at the corners and bends. This place was as beautiful at night as it was during the day. He smiled and took a deep breath of the night air and looked up at the stars, amazed by how many he could see. He began walking, listening for the music to become louder or quieter, wondering where it was coming from. As he turned a corner, the wind carried a burst of music from the water and he stared at the vast dark ocean. The stars were so bright they made the ocean like it was a shimmering mirror. He walked down to the edge of the docks and looked around, the water had a different feeling than during the day. He had been able to see straight through to the bottom during the day and now it was the deepest blue and black. Still as frighteningly beautiful. The music… it was coming from the water?

He forgot for a moment that no one would understand his Japanese here and called out, "hello?" in a soft tentative voice.

The music stopped so suddenly it was almost frightening. The silence was so heavy, he wanted to turn and run, but kept his feet firmly on the dock and waited, not sure of what he was waiting for, listening to the water lapping on the rocks below.

"Καλησπέρα, παιδί. Μπορείτε να ακούσετε το τραγούδι μας?"

He nearly fell off the dock jumping in surprise, spinning around to see someone sitting on one of the empty docking poles. He blinked and stared, trying to determine whether it was a girl or a boy. The more he looked, the more confused he became. He had been sure at first glance it was a girl, but now he wasn't so sure. The light colors of this being shone in the moonlight and it was hard for him to tell where hair became skin and skin became clothes. There was no doubt that the person was beautiful, but terrifyingly so. They stared at him with the only dark thing on them, their eyes. The large, round orbs were darker than his own eyes, but as deep as the ocean itself. It took him a moment to realize he was staring and dropped his gaze.

"I'm sorry," he told them, shaking his head. "I don't understand you."

A smile broke over that pale face, their arms lifting in a gesture of welcome. "Ελάτε να κολυμπήσετε μαζί μας.!" the creature cried, a giggle rolling out of their mouth like water. Another pale figure peeked over the edge of the pier, then another. And another, climbing up onto the wood, dripping in ocean water. There were several now and they were all repeating the same thing, smiling with their arms out, welcoming him to them as children would when they wanted to play.

"Τραγουδήστε μαζί μας! Ελάτε να κολυμπήσετε μαζί μας! Ελάτε!"

"Λυπάμαι, αλλά δεν μπορεί να κολυμπήσει μαζί σου." The new voice made the creatures turn to stare up the road where Deidara was walking towards them. They all stopped their babble, taking a few steps away from the approaching vampire. There was an intensity on Deidara's face, though it didn't seem angry. "Μην ξεχνάτε ότι αυτό είναι ένα ασφαλές μέρος," he continued.

The creatures all burst out laughing and turned to run off the dock and into the water in clean dives, their pale faces glimmered under the water until they sunk too deep to be seen. Itachi swallowed as he watched them vanished, then turned to face the blond, finally noticing another person back where Deidara had come, standing on the road. It was too dark to see him properly, but he felt the ferocity of the figure's gaze. When Deidara stopped in front of him, he wasn't sure if the blond was unhappy with him.

"I had to know where the music was coming from," he said softly. "What are they? I couldn't understand what they were saying…"

"Sea creatures. Native to this land," Deidara said, holding his hand out to him as the pale creatures had, but this time Itachi accepted, walking towards him, though he didn't take his hand. They walked back to Deidara's companion, still waiting for them. "They were surprised you could hear their music and wanted you to go swimming with them," he explained in a bitter tone.

"Is that bad?"

Deidara's companion gave a soft chuckle of sinister sounding amusement and, close up, Itachi saw that it was not an adult, but a young boy. Younger looking than Deidara, but there was something so off about his features Itachi wondered if the moonlight was obscuring him. His smile made Itachi want to take a step away and he knew this was no child, just as Deidara was not a child. The stranger opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and looked at Deidara who was glaring at him. They seemed to have a conversation with their eyes for a moment, then the boy narrowed his eyes and gave a short nod before turning and walking away.

The blond stared after the stranger for a moment, then made an irritated noise and began stalking up the pathways back towards the house. Itachi hurried after him and began to grow nervous. Had he done something wrong? "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping his arms around himself.

"What for?"

"I… I don't know," Itachi admitted, glancing over at him. "You seem upset."

Deidara finally looked up at him to consider him. "I am not angry at you," Deidara told him, giving him a small smile. "Those creatures would have dragged you under the water and killed you. It's my fault for not telling you there's dangerous things here … peaceful as it is. And he," he gestured behind him vaguely, "always throws me off."

"Who was he?"

"His name is Sasori," Deidara said as they stepped into the house they were staying in. "He's another vampire."

"He was the one you were with when I called?" Itachi asked, slipping his shoes off by the door habitually.

Deidara gave a nod. "He said he was passing through and wanted to catch up, un," the blond made a face as if he smelled something sour, but gave a shrug. He seemed distracted and moody and Itachi wasn't sure what to say as the blond lit a candle and handed it to him. "You need your rest. Your skin is still healing… go to sleep."

Startled by the sudden dismissal, Itachi nodded and left the blond alone in the main part of the house. It was still an hour or two before the sun came up he guessed, but maybe his time with the other vampire was the reason Deidara was being so quiet. He hoped he wasn't secretly angry with him. Deidara was scary when he was angry. He changed in the candle light into pajamas and crawled back into bed, wondering if he'd have any more strange dreams.


	6. The Corpses in the Bed

Itachi wasn't sure how he felt about the current situation now. He had been growing use to being alone with Deidara, even though the blond scared him badly. Sasori was an entirely different sort of creature and his presence was not a pleasant one. Not that Sasori would speak to him. In fact, Sasori wouldn't speak if Itachi was awake when he came over the house. He was getting better at pretending to be asleep when he knew Sasori was in the house, straining out of curiosity to hear what the two vampires were talking about. It wasn't much use. They spoke in languages he didn't know and it usually only lasted a minute before both seemed to realize he was awake and he would revert to their silent staring conversations. Itachi wondered if they could communicate telepathically, or were they just sitting in silence. Deidara was the only vampire he had ever spoken to, so he didn't really know what was normal for vampires.

They wouldn't talk if he was awake, but he didn't want to go to sleep when Sasori was around either.

He wasn't safe. Itachi wasn't sure what gave him this feeling, but he knew it was true. It was the sixth night they were on the island that the feeling was justified.

Itachi had gone to sleep after Deidara went out. He wasn't used to being awake at night and became tired only a few hours after Deidara woke up. He had only been asleep for a few hours when he was yanked into awareness by a blind terror of being unable to move. Something invisible was holding him down and Sasori's golden eyes were burning into him. Itachi's arm rose without his body telling it to and the redhead and sniffed his wrist similar to the way Deidara sniffed his neck.

"No," he gasped out, trying to force his body back into his own will.

Sasori ignored him, crawling over him the same way Deidara did, but very obviously lacking any sexual intent. Sasori had him pinned down on the bed without touching him. How that was possible, he didn't know, but he struggled hard. He couldn't move. He yelled for Sasori to stop, straining his muscles against the invisible barrier. He felt Sasori's teeth brush across his skin.

"No!" he shouted, and suddenly the locked in feeling shattered and he flung the smaller body off of himself and scrambled away as far as he could. Had it been any other situation, Itachi would have thought the expression on Sasori's face as he fell over the side of the bed highly amusing, but he couldn't. The expression changed as he pushed himself off the floor and gave Itachi such a look that he knew he was about to die.

Just then, Deidara burst into the room looking wind swept and furious. He shouted at Sasori in a language Itachi didn't understand and threw himself against the redhead. The two had fought like wild animals, breaking against furniture and walls and Itachi had bolted out of the house for his own safety.

He sat against the wall that lined the house, trying to calm his breathing. He didn't know how Sasori had held him down like that, but he never wanted to feel that again. The sun was beginning to rise as he sat, rubbing his arm where Sasori had nearly bitten him. He waited until the trickle of people walking to their works lessened before going back inside. The vampires wouldn't be able to move now. At least the house was still standing. The sounds that had been coming out of it had made that seem like a miracle.

The door creaked ominously as he pushed it opened and stepped inside. He nearly had a heart attack when he saw Sasori standing against the wall and stumbled against a broken table leg on the floor.

"Close the door," Sasori said in a hushed voice, eyes closed to the pale morning sunlight.

He debated for a half second whether to close the door with himself inside or outside, but finally stepped all the way in and shut the door. He made a wide circle to get around him on his way to the bedroom looking for Deidara, not caring about appearing brave. He knew this creature was dangerous. It took him a moment to realize Sasori had spoken to him in Japanese, but didn't wish to begin conversations with him. Deidara was on the floor against the bed, a few of its legs broken.

Swallowing nervously, Itachi went over to the blond and carefully lifted him up to place him on the crooked bed. He nearly dropped him when Deidara's eyes snapped open and his hand shot towards Itachi's thought. "It's me," he gasped out before the hand got to him.

"Sorry," Deidara whispered, letting his hand drop back down. "Is he still here?"

"Yeah," Itachi replied, setting him down on the bed and rearranging the pillows so the blond wouldn't roll off. "Do you want me to ask him to leave?"

"He can't leave," Deidara murmured, closing his milky eyes. "The sun's up."

"Right," Itachi murmured back, feeling a little foolish. "Are you okay?"

"He didn't hurt me," Deidara told him, turning his head against the pillows. "It's just the sun. That bastard…"

"It's impolite to speak of someone behind their back," the redhead's voice was only slightly stronger than Deidara's as he walked into the room. Itachi stared at him, the redhead's muscles were tense as though he were carrying a great weight, but … he was moving.

"How dare you come in here and try to feed on Itachi, un," Deidara's growl was weak from the sun, but still furious.

"Save your energy, Deidara," Sasori scolded.

"You have no—"

"Enough."

Itachi watched the exchange in silence. He wanted to tell Sasori to leave, but he knew he couldn't. He was just a normal human and these were monsters. Sasori climbed onto the bed next to Deidara, but sat with his back against the wall. Itachi looked to Deidara for some form of protest, or instructions, but the blond lay still with his eyes closed. He looked at Sasori, waiting for him to do something, but he sat in silence, arms limp and eyes half closed.

He was in the room with two corpses that just destroyed the house.

Feeling that anxiety rising in his chest again, he hurriedly exited the house. He half expected Deidara to call him back, but perhaps the blond was too tired. Or didn't care. Either way, he ran, not towards the ocean, but deeper into island where he hadn't been yet, just to get away from the sleeping monsters.

This island was not like Tokyo. Many parts of Tokyo were so safe that you could just sit down and take a nap if you missed the train or were locked out. No one would harm you, or steal from you, and certainly wouldn't try to eat you. He had nowhere to go and no money to get food and no money to get back to Tokyo. He thought of the other vampires and sighed. Maybe not back to Tokyo, but he could live in another city. He walked nearly all day, picking berries and vegetables from stranger's gardens for food. He felt guilty about it, but his stomach didn't care. He wondered if he should just return to the house, but what would happen? Would the two vampires fight again? Would they use him for their breakfast? He cringed a little and rubbed his arm where Sasori's teeth had touched him. They hadn't pierced the skin, but it was like he could still feel them there. It was bad enough when Deidara did it, but he…

He what? He was used to Deidara? Used to his company? Trusted Deidara? No, he definitely didn't trust Deidara. Deidara could be cruel and enjoyed torturing him for hours when he was awake. Last night, it had been one of the first nights Itachi had been allowed to sleep on his own and Sasori had ruined it. He rubbed his stomach, frowning. He had gone longer without eating before when he didn't have money during school, but he had been used to being fed and his stomach was not grateful for a few berries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Tired and hungry, he wedged himself into a small pace where a tree had grown out into the street and leaned against the branches.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but sitting there and watching people go by made him drowsy. The last thing he remembered before dozing off was people coming home for their family before he opened his eyes again. He nearly had another heart attack when he saw Sasori standing in front of him. The sky was beginning to darken, but the sun wasn't fully set yet. The redhead was staring at him as if he had been doing so for a long time, assessing him more intently than Deidara did. He continued to stare, still as a statue, until Itachi's racing heart calmed down.

"What is your name?" the redhead asked him.

"Itachi," he replied. Sasori's Japanese was just as good as Deidara's was, but while Deidara's was expressive and energetic, Sasori's voice was completely monotonous. Like Deidara's, it was a form of Japanese he only heard from elderly and movies and he realized – though he felt foolish for realizing it only now – that they must have learned the language a long time ago. As vampires, it made far more sense than two children speaking like this. His face also lacked emotion, except that he looked very tired. The dark circles that were present under Deidara's eyes when he emerged from his day time slumber were there under Sasori's. They meant exhausted and hungry.

Hungry. Itachi swallowed again.

"What is your full name?"

Itachi frowned, wondering on Sasori's interest. He didn't trust Sasori. A large part of him wanted to tell him what he wanted so he would leave him alone. Something held him back from doing that. "Why?" he asked instead. "Why do you care?"

"You are Deidara's new human," Sasori replied. "He claims you're an interesting human. I would like to know."

"Why isn't the sun hurting you?" Itachi asked instead, still feeling cautious.

Sasori's nose scrunched up a little, showing his irritation at Itachi's refusal to answer him. "The older a vampire is, the more active during the day," he replied curtly. "Hasn't Deidara told you that?" he added with mockery in his voice. "You should begin asking him questions if you expect to live for much longer. You nearly walking to a watery grave, you foolish child. Deidara claims you are smart, but you haven't display much brains yet."

Itachi felt his face flush a little. It hadn't been his fault. He had never known there was any other creatures in this would like the monsters he had met in the past few weeks. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked, ignoring his taunts.

"You may," was the reply after a moment of silence.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked quietly. It was the simplest, broadest question he could ask. He knew what he was, he knew his name, but…

"I assume you want something more than my name," Sasori mused, raising an eyebrow. At Itachi's small nod, the redhead leaned back on his heels and looked up at the tree above them in thought. Itachi had the unnerving feeling that he was deciding whether to answer him, or kill him. He hoped it wasn't the latter. He was growing fond of being alive. He also had the feeling that whatever Deidara did to him would be miniscule compared to Sasori. Running wasn't an option, so he sat under the tree and waited until the vampire came to a decision.

"I am the oldest thing you will ever meet," was the answer.

"Really?" Itachi asked in surprise. "Older than Deidara?"

"I made Deidara."

"Made? Wh— Oh," was all Itachi could think of to say. He didn't really know how old Deidara was now that he thought about it. He had said 'fifteen or so', but he knew that was a lie. Sasori looked younger than fifteen, except for the way he carried himself. He had a sense of power and pride that no teenager could have. Sasori turning Deidara into a vampire explained how they knew one another, but they didn't seem to be on good terms. He wondered how old they really were, and what had happened between them. Maybe he should take care of the redhead's advice and ask Deidara questions. Sometime. When he wasn't in a bad mood.

"I answered your question," Sasori whispered, settling his weight evenly again. "Answer mine now: do you want to live?"

Itachi felt his heart skip a beat and stared up at the redhead. He had expected his question to be for his name again, but instead he asked nearly the same question Deidara had weeks before. Deidara's question had been conversational, curious. And Itachi hadn't answered with much definition. Sasori's made it sound like he would slay him there on the street if he didn't give him a straight answer. "Yes, I do," he replied, hoping his voice was as even as he wanted it to be.

"Yet you accompany Deidara without trying to get away."

"He said he'd hunt me if I ran."

Sasori puffed out a breath that might have been amusement. "He is dramatic as always," Sasori mused to himself. "Do you know what you are?"

Itachi frowned up at him. "Food," he replied quietly. "Deidara's."

"Mm-hm," Sasori agreed with a little nod. "Do not go to Deidara tonight. If you go to him, he will drain you dry. Kill you. He will find you when he's ready."

"Why are you telling me this?" Itachi asked, suspiciously.

"Deidara wants to keep you for a long time," Sasori replied.

"But, you wanted to bite me last night," Itachi countered.

"There is nothing wrong with sampling tastes," the vampire said, tilting his head to the side. "It has been many years since my taste buds have been satisfied and Deidara spoke of you."

"He says I… taste good," he replied, nose crinkling a little, not liking out that sounded out loud.

"Hm. I can't attest for that because I haven't tasted you myself, but you do smell good… I suppose," Sasori looked at him a moment. "Not the best I've smelled, but if Deidara had been a Lesser Vampire, you'd be dead before you saw his face."

"Lesser Vampire?" the term seemed significant and important the way he said.

Sasori gave a huge scoff and rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. "Imbecile," he murmured, but Itachi didn't know if he was talking about himself, or Deidara's lack of Vampire Education 101. "Ask Deidara your questions when he finds you," Sasori finally said. "Unless you'd like to come with me and I will answer them for you."

"No, thank you," Itachi said quickly, feeling his blood run cold again.

Sasori gave him a smile that made all the hairs on Itachi's neck and arms stand on end. He'd only met Sasori a few times and every time gave him the feeling that the redhead was crazier than Deidara was. Every flag screaming 'danger! run!'. He wondered if being a vampire had made Sasori the way he was or had been a psychopath beforehand? If he had been, whose bright idea had it been to give Sasori fangs?

The vampire left him without another word. The breath Itachi had been holding was let out slowly. Did he really just have the worst luck in the world? He couldn't tell what the worst thing that happened to him so far in his life was: his parents murder, bouncing around foster homes, starving in his dorms trying miserably to graduate, getting taken by Deidara and being a vampire's play thing. Maybe he should have let those sea creatures just drag him under the ocean. At least then it would all stop. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the tree and followed Sasori's advice to wait for his captor to find him. Or die of starvation.

He didn't have to wait long as the sun went down the rest of the way and night came down. This was such a peaceful place. He thought about the lunch he had had with that family here and had a vague desire to find the house again and beg to be brought in. The real world was not a pleasant place and he just wanted to stop being worried about everything. It was nice to feel like part of a family.

"Itachi."

He looked up and saw the blond standing on the other side of the tree. "How did you find me?" he asked quietly, stiffly trying to stand up.

"Smelled you," the blond replied. "Why didn't you come back?"

"Sasori said not to," Itachi replied, wondering if the redhead's advice had been aggressive.

"Oh," Deidara said, sighing softly, looking annoyed. Itachi felt his stomach growl and Deidara glanced down at it. "Let's get you some food."

Deidara took him into the center of town where there was a small pub and ordered him a thick, chunky soup that smelled so delicious that Itachi had to force himself to eat slowly. He was glad it was soup and not something that would have upset his deprived stomach more. Deidara watched him eat two bowls and several hunks of bread in silence then walked with him back towards the house.

"What else did Sasori say?" Deidara asked.

"That I'm not very smart," he admitted, feeling the judgement was unfair given his situation.

For the first time that day, Deidara looked less grave and almost smiled. "Don't take it personally," he murmured as they went inside. The blond didn't bother lighting a candle this time and led him through the house in the dark. "Sasori thinks everyone is stupid, un. Go to bed."

Deidara was furious. Sasori had absolutely no right to burst into his life and how dare he feed off Itachi. Sasori knew Itachi was his. He knew what the taste of the brunette was to Deidara, yet still he felt he had the right to feed on him. Sasori always worked on his own terms. He was old. Older than the councils that created the rules of their kind, so he didn't feel he had to and no one was brave enough to try and make him. Deidara shouldn't have fought with him, but he'd been so angry at the redhead – the idea of him killing Itachi and never being able to feed from him again – drove him into a rage.

But…

Something confused him. Sasori was much stronger than a human, he didn't need much effort to hold down a struggling human, but Sasori's change into a vampire had brought forth a special gift. The ability to turn people into puppets, controlled by invisible strands of his very will. He could make even the most stubborn dance if he wanted. That was his preferred method to get people to hold still for him to feed. Their terror fueled their taste into something sweeter…

Sweeter…

He stared down at Itachi who had finally drifted off and began pacing the room. Sweeter, his blood called for him to taste, but he could kill him in his rage.

Focus.

Sasori would have held Itachi down to feed from him. Itachi shouldn't have been able to move, but he had thrown Sasori off of himself. He was immune to that, just as he was immune to glamor. Was he immune to all vampire tricks? Was it connection to that? In the centuries they knew each other, Deidara had never seen Sasori's ability fail before. He was pretty sure Sasori knew or suspected why, but Sasori's pride had been hurt with his failure to feed on Itachi like he wanted. Whatever the price for information was, the blond wasn't ready to hear his price.

Part of him felt guilty for putting Itachi through this. He had never had this much trouble when he brought home a new human before. Except, perhaps, for Samantha, but he had taken her from another vampire, so that was bound to be messy regardless. He should have just taken him right home, but he was still annoyed about the fact that Itachi was acting meek and wanted him to calm down before meeting the others. When Sasori had left him, Deidara had panicked, desperately trying to make himself move properly in his Suntime death. He had been so terrified he'd find Itachi dead in a ditch, but he'd just been sitting against a tree like the whole thing was a vacation.

He should have throttled him. Him and Sasori.

Glaring down at the boy, he took a deep inhale and gave a soft whine. Crawling over the bed, he curled up against Itachi – too exhausted to awaken, and gave a better inventory of his human. Maybe Sasori had bitten him. A few sniffs later told him he hadn't. He sat up and glared angrily at nothing. What the fuck did Sasori rush off after him for then?

He gave Itachi's cheek a small poke with his finger. He didn't move.

Nngh… what had Sasori done? He wanted to wake his human up and ask again. What hadn't Itachi told him? Why had he listened to Sasori and not come home? He smelled so good he was so hungry.

Getting off the bed, he went out to find someone to make Itachi breakfast for when he woke up. He was still furious and the creature that made it, did so with hands shaking, sensing his irritation. He wanted to go home now.

Itachi woke up when the sun was high in the sky and Deidara was on the bed in his Suntime death. He felt Itachi become aware that he was on the bed and tense. He smelt him begin to let his mind drift and whatever he was thinking was causing him anxiety. The anxiety caused his fear to spike. He smelled so good.

Stop it, you are not a weakling, he scolded himself. "Why are you so scared?" he asked aloud. He felt Itachi jump in in shock and clutch the sheets. Perhaps he thought he had been sleeping. Deidara hadn't slept in centuries.

"Sorry," Itachi said after getting control of his breathing. He smelled so good it was starting to piss Deidara off. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Answer."

"I… Are you angry with me? For yesterday?"

"No," Deidara lied, then realized he wasn't really lying. It wasn't that he was mad. He was annoyed and worked himself up into being thoroughly put out which meant he was angry. "Sasori pissed me off, un."

"He told me that he made you," Itachi told him quietly.

Deidara inwardly bristled, unable to do so outwardly. "I asked you yesterday what he said, un!" he snapped, angry that he was riled up when the sun was awake and he was confined to his bed. This was torture.

"Sorry," he heard Itachi murmur. And he moved, getting off the bed and went out into the room to the kitchen to eat some of the food Deidara had brought for him.

"Come back," Deidara said loudly. He waited, but the brunette didn't come back or answer. The ungrateful bastard. 'You're welcome' he wanted to shout but found he was too tired, too hungry, too angry, and now he was in his day time death and could do nothing by smolder, anger rising. He wanted a distraction. Something to talk to.

This trip would have been fine if Sasori hadn't showed up. Deidara refused to believe that he was just passing through. Sasori never asked before he took things. That hadn't changed from the first moment Deidara set eyes on the vampire. It was worse when the sun came up and Sasori, who's age granted him the ability to stand the daylight hours longer, made sure to take care of him. To protect him from the sunlight and keep him company. Old friends, they were. Teetering on the thin fence between hated rivals and best friends. Sasori still viewed Deidara as one of his toys, once his favorite and now something that finally grew sharp enough fangs to bite back. Despite how they angered him, Sasori took care of things he considered his own.

Not that it had made the redhead's presence any more bearable.

Then there was Itachi. The brunette had returned but was only sitting against the door watching him in his rejection. He didn't like being pushed aside, Deidara noticed, didn't like being snapped at. Itachi hadn't been in his possession for that long and yet he'd grown accustom to being wanted, even if it was for food. Psh. Food. That was not fun. Prey that laid itself out to be eaten was worthless. Maybe that's why Itachi had lived so long without running into any monsters in Tokyo. Hiding in plain sight.

He felt the sun beginning to sink and his eyes opened to lock onto Itachi, strangely clear despite the dead and colorlessness of the Suntime death. Itachi started, feeling the intent of his eyes and began backing away. "No," he murmured. "Please don't bite me."

"Then run," Deidara growled.

The chase was exhilarating. It would have been an easy hunt, but smelling the fear from him as he ran, hearing his panting breathing was ecstasy. He threw himself into his senses, but always careful not to give himself up to them. He caught him and bit him and let him go, giggling as he watched him scramble away, limping as his venom lingered in his veins. A few eyes peered out from the houses, scornful, reproachful. But he was not breaking any laws. Itachi was his and he was not harming anyone on the island. What would they do to him anyway? He was too strong. He was too powerful. Other vampires couldn't control him. What could these creatures do to him?

He was taking too much. He knew it. Itachi was growing slower, his bites not lasting long enough to be closed. Wasting precious blood. How childish of himself. He wasn't a stupid New that would give in to the euphoria his very smell gave him, but he certainly shouldn't be wasting something so precious. He tracked the brunette to a garden on the outskirts of the island's town, hiding in a garden. The garden belonged to humans. He could tell by the smell that they left behind and it wasn't a good hiding place. Silly foolish human; he had a lot to learn. He pounced on the brunette, sinking his teeth into his calf as he tried to scramble away. He carefully twisted with him, not wanting to tear his skin as he dragged him back out from behind the olive tree like the predator he was. Itachi struggled, though weakly as his body reacted to the venom, but Deidara only dragged him closer, sliding his arms around his shaking torso and nuzzled into the soft place of his belly.

"No," Itachi breathed, his voice as weak as his body stripped of so much blood. Deidara caught the hand that was attempting to push him away and licked up the blood remaining there. "Don't… kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you, Itachi," he purred, lifting him up to carry him back to the house. The game was done, he decided. There really was only so much humans could take. Such weak little things. Though Itachi lasted longer than he expected. He glanced up at the sky. Maybe two and a half hours. He deposited him onto the bed, now simply a mattress thanks to his fight with Sasori, and crawled on top of him to use his warm body as a pillow. "When I tell you to come, you come," he growled warningly. "When I ask you a question, you answer, un!"

He waited, but the brunette didn't answer and he saw he had passed out. Deidara pouted a little, sitting up so he could look at him better. Carefully, he pulled Itachi's sweaty, dirty clothes off and began cleaning the wounds that hadn't been able to heal.

Maybe he took it a bit too far.

Maybe people shouldn't piss him off so damn much.


	7. The Others

Itachi was silent the entire trip off the island. He was silent on the boat. He was silent at the airport. He was silent on the plane. He didn't want to talk to the blond who was at his side through the entire trip, but that didn't stop the blond from keeping up a stream of chatter about nothing in particular the entire time. Itachi's entire body felt as weak as a baby's yet the blond hadn't offered to carry or pull his suitcase. He had hunted him like an animal last night, biting and terrifying him for hours and then pretended nothing had happened, brightly telling Itachi that the two of them were going home that night. Deidara had bought them business class tickets for their flight and happily sat next to him and used him as a leaning post. Itachi didn't react, he learned his lesson, but he didn't have to pretend to trust the blond.

"Aren't you gonna ask?" Deidara questioned, rolling onto his back with his legs tucked against the window of the plane. Itachi wondered if it was even worth his effort to humor him. He was exhausted even though the blond had been steadily making him eat small portions of food and drink orange juice. The blond reached up to give the fringe not quite long enough for his pony tail a little tug. He obliged by looking down at him. "Don't you wanna know where we're going, un?"

"Germany," Itachi stated, going back to staring at the screen playing the news. It had been on his ticket. He wasn't that stupid.

"Aren't you excited?" the blond asked, grinning broadly.

"Does it matter?" came the mumbled reply.

The blond gave a disappointed pout. "Of course it does, un. Germany is really awesome," he exclaimed, "and it's your new home. Why aren't you excited?"

Itachi frowned at the screen on the chair in front of him, debating on whether or not to answer truthfully or not, but decided on honesty. "I don't understand why you're acting like nothing happened last night," he said blandly, still not looking at him.

"That was last night," Deidara answered as if what he said was silly. "I was pissed off and hungry, un. Look, we're going home, you've never been to Germany before. Think of all the yummy new foods you're gonna eat, un! And – well, you don't speak German yet, but you'll learn it and maybe English and anything else you want to study, un. You'll like my house! It's huge! And I have a library bigger than any you've ever seen, un! You'll never run out of things to read!"

Itachi closed his eyes. He hated that Deidara was drawing him in, tempting him with the things he loved. He didn't want to give in. Deidara had hurt him badly last night. His body was still aching in pain from the way he would bite and drag him around with his teeth. The scrapes and scratches from when he kept falling onto the stone streets had vanished along with the fang marks, which he suspected was some work of Deidara's, but the memory of them still caused them to ache. He didn't understand why he had done that to him. Simple because he didn't do what he wanted? Because Deidara was angry at Sasori and took it out on him? Whatever Deidara's reason, it was inexcusable. He was hurt and now the blond was expecting him to act like nothing had happened. Like this was all normal. Deidara was insane. That was the only explanation he could come up with. Both Deidara and Sasori were insane. One just thought he was more playful than the other.

Deidara wanted him to act as though nothing had happened. He couldn't just forget about that. The terror of being hunted. He had only just woken up from passing out from blood loss a few short hours ago. Deidara didn't notice or care that he was still weak. Selfish was an understatement he was quickly becoming aware of.

The sun was still set when they arrived in the airport, so the blond didn't need his help with anything, but neither did the blond offer to help him with his suitcase again as he tried to lift his suitcase from the conveyer belt and nearly fell over from light headedness. Instead, a stranger lifted it off for him, setting it down and gave him a light pat on the arm and said something to him in a language he didn't know.

"Ready?" Deidara asked, skipping up to him with a drink and a container of cake. "I brought you a welcome snack, un. My friends say these are really good."

Not trusting his voice as he focused on staying upright, he nodded and took the things from him. He was beginning to wonder how he was going to drag his luggage while holding the two things when a woman approached them and spoke what sounded like a welcome to Deidara. She spoke in a very business tone that sounded like an itinerary, but Deidara just nodded and waved it off. She then looked at Itachi with a curious expression and Deidara said something to her that made her smile brightly.

"Willkommen," she said to him, holding her hand out, but, when seeing that his hands were full, she waved it off and took his suitcase for him, motioning him to follow the two of them out of the airport.

"Say 'danke'," Deidara said to Itachi as they approached a car idling in the pick-up area. "She said 'welcome'. Danke means thanks."

Itachi turned to the woman and repeated the word and she just smiled again and opened the car door for him. As they drove, Itachi stared at the city, which felt just like any city. It wasn't that it was disappointingly familiar, but there was little he could determine from a car. There were lights. Advertisements he couldn't read. Then there was darkness. Itachi stayed as far from the blond as possible, but he didn't need to as Deidara was leaning over the seat having an adamant conversation with the driver in what he was recognizing as German. Deidara had said he would be learning German and he wondered if he would learn to wrap his mouth around such foreign sounds. The car drove for an hour or so before they passed through another city that was much smaller and older than the one they landed in. Then again there was nothing. It was so dark outside, he wondered if he would be able to see stars like he had on the island, but the sky was too cloudy.

"Home!" Deidara's sudden cry startled him out of his thoughts. Following the gaze out the front window, he saw nothing, but what the car's headlights displayed on the road. "Now Itachi," Deidara said, finally turning to give him his full attention, switching to Japanese. The oldness of his speaking style paired with his looks made the seriousness of his young appearance almost comically cute. "When we arrive there, we won't be alone, un. There's other people that live there with me, but I want you to be aware of this first: no one there will harm you, un. There are humans, vampires and … other things," he added vaguely as though he thought Itachi wasn't quite ready to learn about 'other things' yet. Itachi was silently grateful. "If they try to hurt you, I will kill them," this didn't make Itachi feel better in the slightest. "Also, there might be a few people waiting for me, but you're mine, right? No one else's. Understand?"

Swallowing, Itachi gave a short nod and went back to staring out the window. It was soon obstructed as the blond leaned over to press his face against the window so their eyes met. He looked so childishly silly like that it was difficult to imagine the monster the night before. "What is it?" he asked, pouting against the window, looking disappointed at Itachi's lack of enthusiasm.

"May I go to bed when we get there?" Itachi asked quietly.

"But it's so early," the blond whined, still squashing his face against the window. Itachi pulled his gaze from the window and Deidara followed it, perching on the seat with his chin between his hands, cheeks puffed out at him indignantly. "You have to meet the others, and… eat. Don't you want to meet the others?"

"I still don't feel very good," Itachi said quietly, staring out the window again. He wondered who these 'others' were. Vampires? He had said humans too. What were they like? He hated social interactions.

"Hm…" Deidara made an unhappy sound, but didn't get angry at him. Instead, he was acting like had had before Sasori had arrived. He wondered which was Deidara's real personality. Furiously angry, or brightly childish. "Will you at least say hi?" Deidara asked, giving him the same expression as a child asking for a treat. "They like new people, un. They're really nice."

"Who are—"

"We're here! We're here!" Deidara interrupted, climbing over Itachi to exit through his door instead of the one on his side as the car came to a stop. Itachi sighed a little and stepped out, freezing as he stared at the building Deidara had called home.

Home had sounded like a house, perhaps similar to the one they had recently vacated or an apartment like the one in Tokyo. Something other than a literal castle. A castle. There were no outdoor lights to display the grandness of it, but something about the building gave a sense of size that Itachi's eyes couldn't easily pick up. There were a few lights on sporadically and the front doors were spoken wide, spilling light onto the cobblestone courtyard the car had pulled into. Peeling his eyes away from the dark shape above him, he watched the driver set his suitcase down next to him and drive away, taking a turn that put the car out of sight, leaving the two of them behind with the option to go into the castle or out into the dark unknown. His social anxiety made him consider the dark unknown until he really looked at it. Something about it made him nervous enough to place the bottle of drink Deidara had bought him into the pocket of his suitcase so he could grab it and move closer to Deidara.

Several people came out to meet them and Deidara rushed over to throw himself into the arms of an older looking man who lifted him into the air as if he was his own child and gave him a tight hug. A handful of others joined in a group hug while a few others stood back, some smiling, some looking annoyed as they made their way awkwardly into the foyer. Itachi followed, but moved to the side against the wall to keep out of the way as Deidara seemed to be both arguing with and greeting them all at the same time. The ones he was arguing with had a coldness about them that Itachi associated with vampires, but who were the other people? The ones who looked happy to see him. Were they humans?

Something tugged his sleeve and he looked down to see a little girl with hair so blond it was nearly white with a pink streak in her bangs. She looked no older than ten and was wearing a fluffy dressing gown over a night dress and slippers. Her smile was wide and friendly as she took his hand and shook it enthusiastically, staring up at him with bright green eyes. "Hallo!" she said.

He began to return her greeting when a female vampire snapped angrily at the girl and she started and hurried back to stand with the other humans as they extracted themselves from Deidara and stood together looking at him with curiosity. Deidara said something in a scolding voice to the female vampire who regarded him as a stern teacher would, but raised her hand in silent apology. The vampires spoke a few more words to Deidara then left to go deeper into the house. Itachi looked at the remaining humans with shy curiosity, wondering if they were here because they had no choice as well.

"I hate politics," Deidara said in his most dramatic whine yet. He turned to the humans and spoke to them with the same seriousness he had with Itachi in the airport and, by the glances they gave Itachi, it was about him. When he was finished, they nodded and smiled at Itachi. "Come on, Itachi," Deidara called to him, gesturing for him to follow him up the stairs.

Itachi reached for his suitcase, but stopped by several exclamations of protest. The humans jabbered away in German, pointing at themselves. A black girl approached him and took it the handle from him and shook her head. "Bed time," she said in English, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

He returned her smile awkwardly and began following Deidara up the steps. It was difficult. His legs were so weak. Deidara let him walk up the first flight of grand steps by himself until they were out of sight from the watching humans before he scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way. He wanted to protest, but knew he wouldn't make it where ever they were going. He tried to count the passages they went through. Another stair well, left, a long hallway…. "Those people," Itachi began, feeling awkward in the smaller boy's arms, "were they like me?"

"Some of them," Deidara replied. "Except they actually want to be here, un."

Itachi's jaw clenched with flared cheeks. He didn't… not want to be here… The words wouldn't come out. He didn't know how to explain that. He also didn't understand how Deidara expected him to want to be here after nearly killing him. "They seem nice," he said instead.

"They are, un! They'll make you feel at home if I'm not around," Deidara said, shifting his hold on him so he could open a door. The room they stepped into was dark, but Deidara didn't seem bothered by it. Itachi waited for him to set him down on the floor, but instead he was placed on a bed that was higher than he was used to. "Don't worry about the language barrier, they'll find a way around it, un," Deidara continued as he shuffled around in the dark. A few moments later, light seeped into the room from a fireplace, crinkling as the wood began to take the flame. "You might not see them all at the same time, though. Some have jobs in the city we went through, and others run on my schedule. It'll be easy to sleep here during the day if you want. Your curtains here are thick, but they can be pulled back if you want, un." Itachi sat up to watch him, watching him place a heavy iron guard in front of the fire. The warm of it took a few moments to reach him, and made the room smell wonderful. He had never had a fireplace before. "This will help you see better," Deidara explained, then hopped up onto the bed that really was much taller than it needed to be and began to tug his clothes off him.

"W-wait, wait stop, I—"

"Relax, Itachi," Deidara said with a slight roll of his eyes. "You can't sleep in these clothes, un." He stripped him down to his underwear, then arranged the bed to put him under the covers.

"I can do it myself, though…" The sheets under the covers were surprisingly warm for new sheets, but he realized as he stretched that there was a heating pad at the bottom of the sheets that his toes could just touch.

"I know you can," Deidara said pleasantly, flopping down on the bed next to him and rolled over so he was resting his head on his chest. Itachi went ridged as a board, but Deidara didn't do anything. "You go to sleep," the blond crooned, rubbing slow circles on his stomach. "I'll stay till you sleep, so you won't feel scared in a new place, un~"

"New places don't frighten me," Itachi stated, staring at the canopy over his bed.

"But I have to go later," Deidara continued as if he hadn't heard him. "The others will be looking for me, un. I know you like privacy, so I'll tell them not to come in here."

"Looking for you?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Well, I've been gone for a while, un," Deidara told him, "they miss me and probably want me to feed on them, un."

"They… they want you to bite them?" Itachi asked in surprise. "They like being your food?"

He felt the blond freeze and sit up slowly to look at him. His eyes reflected in the firelight oddly. He didn't look angry, but still Itachi's heart raced in fear for a moment. Had it been the wrong word? What else were they? What else were any of them to the blond except transportable food? Deidara had fed him, gave him clothes and brought him away from an empty life, but at what cost? There was an agonizing pause before Deidara laid back down next to him with his eyes on the canopy of the large bed. Uncertain of what to say, Itachi decided to follow his companion's actions and stayed silent, listening to the comforting crackle of the fire across the room until he finally fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he had no idea how much time had passed. The room was the same darkness, though the fire had gone down to a low ember, casting strange shadows against the walls. He sat up groggily, pinching the bridge of his nose to rub sleep from his eyes. He felt rested whether he slept a long time or short. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw that he was alone in the room, which was far grander than he expected. Climbing down off the bed, his toes sunk into a thick fabric and he padded over to the window as the rug became polished wood. After patting the curtains for break, he pulled them open and squinted at the brightness of the day. As his eyes adjusted to it, he gaped at the view before him, at the rolling hills of green and the deep, dark forests. It was so beautiful, yet familiar. He scrambled at the window for a latch, finally finding one and lifted the window to lean out and took a deep breath. He didn't know why, but he wasn't surprised at the smell of pine and wood smoke. He had dreamed about this place once, but he didn't know how he could have.

Turning from the window, he looked around for his clothes and pulled them back on. He didn't see his suitcase anywhere, which disappointed him a little. Quietly, he pushed the door to the hallway open and peered out into the hallway.

The fire had made the room much warmer than the rest of the building. Out of habit, Itachi had left his shoes off and the floor was cool under his feet. The hallway was dark, but there was a window at the end of the hallway that illuminated it enough to see. The hallway he exited opened to another larger hallway and he tried to follow the way Deidara had taken him back to the main entrance. The building looked like it was from a movie, old stone walls polished like the smooth floor. He stepped onto the dark rug that ran lengthwise down the hallway and was grateful for the barrier between the chilled floor and his feet. Yet despite the oldness, he could see wires running from the lights hanging on the ceiling.

He stopped short when he heard a voice from one of the rooms ahead. He crept forward and peered through the open door. In it, he saw the little girl that had first greeted him sitting at a desk with books spread across the desk as she took notes. She chatted happily in German to an equally young sounding voice coming from the laptop perched there. Her room was large like his was, but brightly decorated with fabrics, furniture and toys. Her walls contained posters of athletic women and magazine cutouts of clothes. She seemed to be studying and he wondered why she didn't go to school, but decided that it wasn't his business and he didn't want to bother her so he carefully crept on.

The image of the looming building came into his mind as he reached the stairs Deidara had carried him up. Maybe when Deidara was awake he could ask him for a map. Would Deidara be able to find him if he got lost? Would he starve before he found him? His hand fell on his stomach as it grumbled a little in protest. It didn't want to wait until sunset to get food, but where was the food? Did the place have a kitchen? There were humans here, so there must be a kitchen. He half wanted to turn back and ask the little girl for help, but he was feeling too anxious to try and figure out a way to ask for help.

"Itachi?"

Itachi nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice that cut through the silence. He had come to the top of the grand staircase and as he peered down, he saw the older man who had hugged Deidara standing at the bottom smiling up at him. "Hello," he said in English to the man, as another joined him, both looking up at him. They looked friendly enough and he began to come down the stairs, but they protested and came to him.

They spoke to him and he apologized, frustrated that he couldn't understand them. As Deidara predicted, they didn't seem bothered. The older gentleman, gave his wiry beard a rub as he smiled and handed him a small basket, then gave the other, younger, man a pat on the shoulder before leaving.

"Ich bin Grey," the man said, touching his hand to his chest. "Itachi," he gestured to the brunette then himself again. "Grey." He paused for a moment, then said in halting Japanese that sounded rehearsed, "I'm sorry I don't know Japanese. Deidara asked me to teach you."

"Thank you," Itachi said, bowing to him.

The man named Grey led him down one of the hallways leading into the deeper part of the castle. Now that Itachi was close to him, he recognized him from the night before as well, waiting to the side when Deidara came home. He wondered about him, wanting to ask him questions about the blond and the other humans he had seen the night before, but knew it would take so much effort to find the words to ask. He didn't even know if it was appropriate to ask. They passed through another hallway, a short stair case and another hallway before finally coming to a halt in front of large wooden double doors. Itachi wondered how he could tell the many doors apart, but the fear of getting lost left him when the man opened the doors and flipped on an electric light.

The library. This was the library Deidara had told him about, and he hadn't been exaggerating about its size. He could barely bring himself to step over the threshold as Grey stepped further inside, opening the curtains to let in the sunlight. He had never seen such a big library inside a house before. It had two visible main floors with two wings that had spiral staircases that disappeared into a third floor. There were sofas and overstuffed chairs in various places and in private corners. The deep part of room next to the biggest windows was a grand fireplace with a huge marble mantle, empty and cold, but it completed the room. Rows and rows of wonderful, colorful books. He breathed in the smell of them and felt himself relax.

"Wow," he breathed.

The man smiled at him and made a broad gesture at the library then pointed at Itachi. He said something to him in German and Itachi heard Deidara's name among the words. He didn't seem bothered by Itachi's confusion and motioned for him to sit in one of the stuffed chairs by the empty fire place that had a large table next to it. While Itachi waited for Grey, who was rummaging around on the shelves, he looked into the basket the other had given him and was delighted and relieved to see food. It was a small Tupperware of scrambled eggs and sausage was inside, another Tupperware contained pieces of assorted vegetables cut into small bite size pieces, along with a few rolls, and a small jug of orange juice. He sighed in relief and began nibbling at the bread and sipping the orange juice.

"Ah!" Grey said as he joined him, smiling. "Deidara sagte, du musst essen.." Itachi gave him a confused, but apologetic look he felt his face would become permanently frozen in and Grey made held up two fingers like claws and tapped his neck. "Deidara."

Itachi nodded, shifting uncomfortable, but Grey just nodded his understanding. "Bitte essen," he said, gesturing to the food and made an eating gesture before he began setting down books in German and a German to Japanese dictionary and a notepad and pencil for Itachi. Grey began patiently teaching him German, going over the letters, sounds and basic phrases for him. Itachi had no concept of time in the library. He had no idea what time it had been when he had woken, but time was not important. Learning was one of his favorite things and Grey gave him work sheets and vocabulary lists. This library was open to him. The library in Deidara's Japanese study had had multiple languages in it, so he assumed this one did, but since this was Germany, he assumed there was mostly German books and he was determined to be able to read them all. After a few hours, Grey excused himself, but left him with massive amount of work – work Itachi had asked for after frantically digging through the dictionary for the words for 'more' and 'please'.

As he stumbled over the words for the days of the week – slightly annoyed that 'Mittwoch' was the only day that didn't end in 'tag', cool fingers slid over his eyes and pulled him gently away from his books. Deidara's voice behind him began singing the days for him in a tune that sounded like a nursery rhyme. His cool hands felt nice against his tired eyes. "Good morning, Itachi," he crooned when he'd finished, sliding into the chair behind him and curled up against his back.

"Is it night time already?" Itachi asked, putting his pencil down and rubbing his eyes. Deidara had his chin resting on Itachi's shoulders so he could see him.

"Mhm," Deidara said, reaching around him to push the papers around to look at what he was working on. "You woke up around… noon I think? I heard you walking around that time at least. You've been working here for a long time, un. How can you sit still for so long?"

"I like working," Itachi defended himself, rearranging the papers Deidara had messed up.

The blond chuckled. "Grey came to see me when he left you," he told him, reaching out to mess the papers up again, but Itachi automatically flicked his hand away. "I bet you're hungry, un."

"I didn't know where the kitchen was," Itachi admitted. He didn't feel hungry before, but now that Deidara had mentioned it, his stomach grumbled from being ignored. "Though… another man gave me food. He had been with Grey when they found me." He pointed to the basket and Deidara made another pleased noise.

"That was Wes," he told him. "He's like … everyone's dad. Willst du frühstücken?" Itachi blinked, recognizing some of the words, but then realized the question wasn't directed at him. He looked up and saw a handful of other humans at the door, some looking sleepy, others awake. They nodded and turned to hurry down the hallway. 'Frühstücken' sounded like 'breakfast'. "Wanna go eat with us?" Deidara asked him in Japanese.

Itachi was a little startled by the question. In the past few weeks, Deidara never gave him an option. He ate when Deidara remembered to feed him, went where Deidara wanted him to. He wasn't sure how to feel about all this. A small part of him was pleased that he heard the German correctly at least. "Can I shower first?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," Deidara said, hopping off the chair and held his hand out for Itachi to take. Itachi stood slowly and followed him, but didn't take his hand. "I'll take you back to your room so you don't get lost, un," the blond continued, unperturbed by his refusal. As they walked, Itachi made counted the hallways and stairs again, noting paintings and stain glass windows and wondered if he'd be able to find his way back to the library.

"Where's my suitcase?" he asked as they stepped into the room and Deidara flipped the switch he hadn't seen that turned the lights on.

"I put everything away in the closet when you were asleep," Deidara told him, pointing to one of two doors on the opposite side of the room from his bed.

Confused as to what the blond was grinning about, he opened the door and stared inside as the blond reached in and flipped the light on for him. This wasn't a closet. This was another whole bedroom! There was a dresser that looked like a heavy movie prop, more authentic than any movie. There were cast iron clothing racks and wardrobes with many shelves and neat racks for shoes. He had brought no more than a single suitcase, but the room was full of clothes. The far side of the room had a few full-length mirrors to allow different angles to be seen. He could see his stunned reflection in it, Deidara's impish grin behind him. He turned to stare down at him. "What is all this?" he stammered.

"Your closet!" Deidara beamed, obviously proud of himself. "It should all fit, but if we can get them altered if it needs it, un. I ordered it while we were at the airport in Dubai." He giggled again then tugged him away from the room and led him to the other door. This was the bathroom which was equally intimidating and beautiful as the other room. It had dark marble surfaces, huge mirror over double sinks, a shower and a huge claw footed bathtub.

"What…" Itachi froze, then turned to stare at the vampire behind him. He was on sensory overload, and after living in Tokyo for the majority of his life, he didn't think that was possible. "This is too much," he said quietly, eye wide.

The blond just continued to beam proudly, like it was his goal in life to blow Itachi's mind. "Don't be silly," he said, grin threatening to split his face in half. "Take your time," he said, giving him a little nudge. "I'll send someone to get you so you won't get lost, un."

"Okay," Itachi grimaced, eyeing the bathroom nervously. He was pretty sure the room was going to swallow him whole. "Ah… Deidara…sa—…" he stumbled, unsure if Deidara would want any suffixes attached to his name, but the blond didn't finish for him, just looked at him curiously. "Do you… do you have a map of the house? I don't want to burden anyone while I learn the layout."

"Sure, I'll find one, un," Deidara nodded. He paused at the door and glanced back at him. "You don't need to add anything to my name. Just Deidara is fine."

And then he was gone, leaving Itachi in a bathroom bigger than his little apartment in Tokyo. Itachi wondered how Deidara could afford all this. He lived in a castle. He bought him all these clothes. Did vampires have jobs? A bath would take too long, though it looked like it would be marvelous. Instead he took a few tentative steps to the shower and, despite the old-fashioned appearance of all the items, the faucets were modern and after some fiddling, got the water to the temperature he liked and slipped his clothes off. The hot water felt wonderful, stripping away the stress that had built up in his body. Like Deidara's mansion in Tokyo, this bathroom also had quite a few scented soaps and shampoos to choose from. He found one he liked after a few rounds of sniffing and began to scrub himself down. When he had to step out it was extremely reluctantly, rolling his shoulders as he gave the bathtub a look of longing and took a thick towel to dry himself off.

Shyly peeking out into the main room, he was relieved to see it was empty. Deidara had even given him the privacy of a closed door as well. Taking a deep breath, he went into the closet-room and opened up the drawers. Would he ever live long enough to wear all of these? Not a single thing looked second hand and all felt high quality. Seriously, did vampires have jobs? Deidara was too young to have a job. With a heavy, anxious sigh, he picked out the simplest clothes he could find – a part of dark wash jeans and a plain t-shirt and surveyed himself in the mirror. His reflection looked as miserable as he felt.

Outside in the main room, the door creaked open quietly and the sound of quiet footsteps reached his ears. "Hallo? Itachi?" came a familiar voice. The little girl who had greeted him first that had been studying in her room was peeking through his door. She waved when she saw him, asking him a question while pointing at herself then at the room. Assuming she was asking if she could come in, Itachi nodded and she came bouncing over to him, the skirts of her dress doing the same. She dragged a little stool from the corner and a comb from the dresser to stand behind him and comb the tangles out of his hair. He tried to protest, but she spoke sternly at him, forcing him to face forward so she could finish combing, then braided the wet strands. "Schöne Haare," she murmured, touching the tip of it.

Hoping gracefully down, she moved to stand in front of him beaming. "Mein Name ist Rose," she said, pointing at herself, then held her hands up with eight fingers displayed. "Ich bin acht!"

Itachi paused awkwardly for a moment, vocabulary rushing through his head, but her gestures explained it better than his one afternoon of study. "Nice to meet you, Rose," he said, feeling stupid for using Japanese. "I'm Itachi," he adjusted in German.

"Hajimemashite!" she repeated delightedly. She clasped her hands behind her back, grinning shyly. She said something to him that he didn't understand, then hurriedly said something as though to explain what she had said. He stammered that he didn't understand, but she didn't seem bothered about it. She gave him another nod, then said something else, but he still didn't understand so she hurried to one of the wardrobes and pulled out a dark, thick coat for him. She wrapped her arms around herself and made a shivering motion. "Kalt!" she said.

She waited while he put on his shoes and coat then held her hand out for him. He smiled at her and took it as they walked down the hallways together. It was the same path he took earlier that day and wasn't surprised when she stopped in front of the room he had seen her in and patted the door. "Mein!" she said, then led him further down, skipping a little. He recognized the large windows and grand staircase that marked the front entrance. As they descended the stairs, Itachi saw a few people waiting for them. They all smiled politely as they came down, passing Deidara who sat on the stairs with a large, sketchbook on his lap, eyes focused on it completely as he took a pen against it. Itachi stood awkwardly to the side, Rose still holding his hand except for when she buttoned up her own coat and pulled on a large flopping cap she had taken out of a pocket.

"Sorry, sorry!" came a woman's voice as someone flew down the stairs, grabbing the end of the banister to stop herself.

Deidara looked up from his work and grinned at the woman. They spoke in German for a moment as they gathered themselves to leave. It was extremely frustrating not understanding anything; he made a mental note to work harder on his lessons with Grey. The man who had given him the food that afternoon, Wes, came through the front door and practically herded them all out the door to the waiting SUV. There was an awful scrambling for preferred seats, which included a lot of bickering and laughter before they came to an agreement. Itachi tried to get a seat in the back corner where he wouldn't be noticed, but it was impossible. He was an honored guest – a new toy that they were all excited about. Wes was driving, Deidara in the passenger's seat. Rose had him wedged between her and another man who didn't look much older than himself, the two girls – the one who had hurried down the stairs and the girl who had assured him about his suitcase was behind them. All of them chatted away to each other, and to Itachi, despite the fact that he couldn't understand. When they reached the city, they were pointing at the window at things, trying to get his attention. Itachi assumed they were pointing things out to him, but he didn't understand. He looked to Deidara desperately, but the blond was just watching, listening to them chatter with a grin and commenting himself at times.

It didn't get better when they got out of the car either. They were all still talking, now Deidara joined in more enthusiastically and Itachi really just wanted to run and hide in a dark corner until it was all over. Was it going to be like this all the time? He didn't think he could handle it

The girl who had spoken to him the night before linked her arm around his and pulled him away from Rose, smiling in a friendly manner. She introduced herself as Samantha – Sam – and seemed delighted to listen to him say her name with his accent. Hearing him finally speak sparked the others interest again and they all crowded him, throwing names and words at him trying to get him to repeat him. Deidara finally came to his rescue just as he felt he was going to have some sort of panic attack. He pulled him out of the group and said something lightheartedly to the others.

"I told you they'd be excited to meet you, un," Deidara said grinning at him.

"I don't think I can do this," Itachi said quietly, though he knew the others couldn't understand him. "I'm sorry, I just want to wait in the car."

He hoped Deidara would understand the level of overwhelming anxiety he was feeling, but the blond either didn't notice or care. "Don't be stupid," he retorted. "You need to eat and you need to meet everyone, un. I'm not gonna have you starve," he added with a grin.

"Why? Would it make me taste bad?" he asked bitterly, frustrated that the blond was forcing him through this. Deidara made a small noise that could have been amusement or irritation. Deidara released his arm, allowing Sam to take his place. Deidara walked next to Wes instead as they left the parking lot and walked down the street to a small pub where the staff greeted the group like regulars and took them to a large booth seat in the corner where they could all see one another easily at the round table. The waitress brought out a round of juice, coffee, and, for some of them, beer, talking to them in a friendly manner. Itachi noticed that Deidara received juice, but the boy next to him drank it along with his own coffee. There was a flurry of menus and the five seemed in deep discussion about something. The waitress took their order and walked away.

He stared around subtly, feeling a little dejected. His order hadn't been taken; he hadn't even been given a menu. They hadn't forgotten him; they had a fight over who was going to sit next to him – Rose was on his left and the girl who had run down the stairs was on his right on the end of the booth. Why hadn't anyone asked him what he wanted? Was it because of his comment? Should he apologize? Chewing on his lower lip, he glanced up at Deidara hoping for some explanation, but the blond was drawing in his sketchbook again, talking to Wes who was making a few comments about what the blond was doing.

"Itachi."

He felt himself wrenched out of his pit of despair and smiled down at Rose. She gave him a toothy grin and placed a notebook down on the table between them. He smiled as she began drawing vigorously on the paper. He liked kids… much more than adults. When she was done, she showed it to him: a circle with smaller circles around it. "Du!" she said, pointing to his name written in English letters. He now saw that she'd drawn the table with everyone's names on it. She began pointing to each name then the person. "Itachi. Rose," she giggled when she pointed at herself. "Jack. Deidara. Wes. Sam. Kit." As she said each person's name, they gave a little wave and smiled.

"Nice to meet you," he said to them, bowing his head down to them.

There was a slight pause and he cringed a little, but Rose seemed understand his distress instantly and sat up on her knees and spoke in a way that made him think she was translating for him – and quite proud of it. They seemed to understand and spoke to him words of greeting as Rose gave his shoulder a pat and sat back down. The babble broke out again as they all began to talk to him, until Wes intervened. He spoke sternly to them, gesturing at Itachi. They all looked a little ashamed of themselves, glancing at Itachi, then at each other as Wes spoke to Deidara who continued to draw.

"They want to introduce themselves and ask you questions," Deidara said, not looking up as he made a lot of small marks on the paper. "I'll translate one at a time, is that okay?"

Itachi nodded, sitting up straighter. He expected an argument over who would ask first, but everyone looked at the girl to his right, who set her glass of beer down and smiled at him. Her hair was so white it looked fake, but it was shiny and straight and she was dressed in a nice blouse and heels. "My name's Kit, I'm Deidara's accountant," Deidara translated for her. "Have you been to Germany before?"

Itachi shook his head. "I've never been outside of Japan before I met Deidara," he told her.

Before someone could ask another question, the waitress returned with a huge tray of food. He was happy to see he hadn't been forgotten. They must have ordered for him so he didn't have to stress over the foreign food and words. His plate had mashed potatoes, a long sausage on a bed of sauerkraut and a kind of fileted meat, though he wasn't sure what kind, with an egg on top. It smelled amazing. He smiled and said thank you to the table at large, glancing around at the other plates of food. He was surprised to see Rose had a lot more food on her plate than the others – certainly more than an eight-year-old should.

"You're going to eat all of that?" he asked her, making a circular gesture around her plate.

She glanced down at his plate then gave him a beaming smile and bobbed her head up and down.

"Were you in school when Deidara found you?" the blond translated for Wes-who-was-a-gardener. "What did you like to study?"

Itachi nodded. "I was in high school," he said, "my last year. I had just gotten into the school I wanted." He noticed that Deidara's translation was much shorter than what he had said and wondered if he hadn't translated the last sentence. It was disappointing that he had worked hard to get into that school for his last year and get taken away from it. "I was going to study accounting, but I really like history best."

He watched their reactions to the translation and as the babble died down, Deidara explained, "they think Kit can teach you if you wanted to learn. She has been with me the longest and works as an accountant with the other vampires in the city too, even the ones that live in the castle." Itachi's mouthful of delicious mashed potatoes suddenly turned to dust in his mouth. He tried to swallow to ask a question about them, but Deidara continued before he could force it down. "They won't hurt you, Itachi. They have strict rules they have to live by if they want to live here, un. They're not Sasori."

At the redhead's name, everyone – save for Rose who continued to diligently plow through her food – froze and glanced up. Jack looked at Deidara and murmured quietly. Itachi caught Sasori's name, but the blond just shook his head and spoke reassuring words. "They don't like Sasori either," he explained to Itachi. Itachi didn't think it was possible for anyone to like Sasori.

He continued to answer questions. Sam proudly stated she was from Atlanta, Georgia and asked if he liked watching or playing sports – not really. Jack told him he was 25 and also from America, though he hailed from Baltimore, and was a film major and asked what his favorite color was – he never really thought about it, but he supposed dark blue. Rose stood up on her knees again when it was her turn and grinned, proclaiming she was going to be a fashion designer when she grew up, spreading her arms out dramatically as she did so and asked Itachi if honey toast was real because she had seen a picture online – he had seen advertisements for them, but never ate one himself. The circle of questions began again with Kit and the dinner continued with no issues. Perhaps father-figure-Wes had noticed his discomfort with noise and had noted to them that he was quieter than they were and they didn't want to upset him. When they ran out of questions, they spoke in their own languages together, laughing and seeming to enjoy being around one another. Rose had finished her plate that had been big enough for an adult man and a half and was nibbling on the crumbs of a delicious strudel she had insisted on sharing with Itachi.

After translating his last response, Deidara had gone back to being frighteningly silent. He didn't look very happy, Itachi noted in the few times he had glanced up at him. He didn't want to ask – not with the others around, but he was almost worried what would happen if he did ask what was wrong. Would Deidara turn him away? Would he punish him again? Or have someone else do it for him? He shivered a little as he remembered the hunt and Kit absentmindedly patted his arm, but didn't inquire. When they were finished, Deidara paid the waitress and they walked out. Sam and Jack linked arms and proclaimed something with a loud cheer before marching off together to spend the night how they wished.

Deidara's voice was soft at his side, causing him to look back at the blond with a twist of nerves. "Here," was all he said, handing Itachi the page of the sketchbook he had been drawing all night, carefully folded up. As he unfurled it, he found a map of the mansion in amazing detail. Everything had its own labels, written in German and Japanese – Deidara had even marked off the areas of the house that were not safe such as the other vampires living quarters. When he'd asked for a map, he hadn't expected the blond to hand draw one for him, but before he could stammer out his thanks, Deidara was walking away with Kit. Wes placed a hand on both his and Rose's shoulders and led them back to the car to take them home. Yawning hugely, Rose murmured, "Gute Nacht," and climbed the stairs towards her room.

Left alone, Itachi return to the library and was about to sit down when a chiming caught his attention and he noticed for the first time the grandfather clock against the far wall, happily informing him that it was 9:00. He wondered where everyone went off to, but he had no way of knowing. He wondered how they could stand to live as someone's portable food banks, but they had seemed happy to him. He wondered too about Rose. She seemed too young to be Deidara's food, but her presence didn't seem odd to the others. He didn't understand. He walked the library shelves, examining the titles, some ancient, some new and went back to his study table to retrieve his dictionary and began using it to read the labels above the selves that were decorated in small ornate metal frames. He found sections on anatomy, history, sciences, chemistry and alchemy. He found a section of books in Spanish and French and English and Korean and Chinese and, hurrying down the rows with slight hope rising, a section of books in Japanese. He sighed in slight relief as he looked at the familiar shapes and words and picked one out randomly. It was a fiction book and he took it back to his study table to read while he took breaks between studying.

He worked until the clock chimed 1AM and his eyes were growing heavy and he found himself reading the same sentence three times. He left his work in neat piles at the table and went back to his room, finding the silence of the castle a little unnerving, but was surprised to see a woman coming out of Rose's room, shutting it very quietly as if the girl was sleeping inside. She seemed to size him up as she looked at him, but smiled and gave a nod before walking away. He wondered who she was and, when she was gone, cracked Rose's door open to peek inside. He could hear her soft breathing from the mound of blankets illuminated in a soft nightlight shaped like a small dog and quickly closed the door before the light woke her up and returned to his own bedroom.

Deidara didn't come to visit him.


	8. The Wolves and the Stranger

The next several weeks became a steady routine. Itachi woke up around ten in the morning, opened his windows to let in the cool summer air – though this area of Germany was too north for it to become true summer, he liked to look at the scenery from his window, marveling at the amount of green that he could see here. If he stuck his head out the window and peered to the right, he could just see the gardens that Wes cared for and to the left was the big tree that had a swing Rose liked to play on. After showering and dressing himself, he would head to the kitchen with the help of his map, pausing to say good morning to Rose as he passed her room. Why she did her school work from her room and not in a class hadn't been properly conveyed to him yet. 'She can't' was the only response he had gleamed from the answers with his limited vocabulary. The first two weeks he had eaten his breakfast in the kitchen properly – it was a grand, old kitchen that had been refurbished for modern appliances, but later began taking it to the library to eat while he studied. Grey arrived around lunch to give him a lesson in grammar and conversational German, but could only stay for two hours before he would have to leave. Grey was a professor at a college in the city, he learned. The first few weeks, he was forced to take a break because Rose would come in and ask to eat a snack with him. She liked to eat outside and he discovered that the grounds the castle sat on were not as scary and foreboding as they had seemed at night. They ate in the gardens or under the apple tree. He felt more relaxed around her than the others, and eventually began waiting for her to begin her break so they could play.

The others weren't unfriendly though, they would come into the library, making a point to say hi to him. Sometimes they'd come in and play games on the computer in the library, but were never loud or disturbing. Deidara had been right about communication, they relentlessly worked to talk to him, using methods from hand gestures to pictures when his limited German couldn't help him. They always invited him out to eat with them when the sun went down and all of them were awake. He didn't want to trouble them, but they dragged him out anyway. He found himself enjoying these people; not minding taking time out of his day to join them. After two months, he began to see them as friends.

He hadn't seen Deidara since the first night.

It had been bothering him for some time, and he finally decided to ask someone about the blond's absence. He finally got the opportunity when he found himself alone in the kitchen with Samantha, the least intimidating of the adults, while making his breakfast. The sun was streaming through the large windows, signaling the start of his day and the end of hers, for Sam was one of the humans who ran on vampire time.

"Is Deidara gone?" he asked.

She looked surprised and shook his head. "Not unless he left ten minutes ago," she said.

"Is he… mad at me? Did I do something?" he asked, feeling stupid.

Her hand paused its action of spreading jam over a slice of toast and she frowned a little. "Not that I know of," she told him, licking the knife clean before sticking it in the sink. "I thought you didn't like him."

He started to shake his head, but stopped. "I don't know…" he finally replied. "Coming here was… not pleasant. I mean… do you like it? When he bites you?"

"Sure," she said with a shrug, frowning slightly in both confusion and concern. "I mean, it feels good, right?" She stuck her raspberry stained tongue out at him with a playful wink.

"I don't like it," he muttered, staring down at his eggs. "I just don't understand what's great about being… food."

She gave a little chuckle as she moved her mouthful to one side so she could talk. "I hope you didn't say that to him, you probably hurt his feelings saying stuff like that," she gave another little chuckle and leaned back in her chair. "What's wrong with him biting us anyway? It's not like some other vampires who bite and go… Deidara took me from another vampire who kept his humans in cages like pets. It was horrible. Deidara chose us specifically and gives us all kinds of stuff. He's gotta eat just like us."

"He's never hurt you before?" Itachi asked quietly, feeling uncomfortable.

She regarded him seriously and leaned her elbows on the table. "Yeah, he has," she admitted. "Deidara's an old vampire and a Master, but just because you're old doesn't mean you think your age."

"What do you mean?" he asked, sipping his coffee.

"Well," she folded her arms and seem to gather her thoughts for a moment. "Deidara might be an old vampire, but he was changed when he was like … fourteen or fifteen, so he still thinks like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old. There's vampires who are older when they were changed and they're a lot different from Deidara. You've met Sasori, right? Deidara's Maker?" He nodded. "Not much is known about him except that he was even younger than Deidara when he was turned and he's worse than Deidara. Because of him, there's laws against changing people before they're a certain age now. I don't think Deidara or Sasori were completely normal _living_ humans, but sometimes the change makes you lose it even more."

"So Deidara really is crazy?" Itachi asked.

"Oh yeah," Sam said with a little laugh. "Sometimes he doesn't react well, and he's _very_ possessive… He doesn't always understand how normal people think and is really impatient and rude. He's been known to throw tantrums and be insufferable, and… that doesn't make it okay, but it's not really his fault. He's been a teenager for a long time. He is nice though, really fun and likes to play," she added sincerely. "You should give him a chance. He really likes you. He talks about you a lot you know… and he's had me investigating what happened to your family."

Itachi's eyes widened. "He… he told you…" his voice trailed off, the remainder of his breakfast not looking very appetizing anymore. Sam seemed to notice and quickly stood with her hands up.

"No, no, Itachi. He didn't like… gossip about it," she insisted, almost too fast for him to keep up. "He asked me to look into any supernatural reports and stuff, to see if anything turned up weird about it. That's what I am – his researcher. And he made me promise not to tell anyone else about it and I haven't," she paused, her dark eyes upset as she looked at him imploringly. "I'm sorry… I didn't know you didn't want anyone to know…"

He never said it was a secret; it was just not something he enjoyed talking about. People always asked a lot of questions, as if they could come up with a logical explanation as to what happened that no one else had before, but he had heard them all. He didn't know Deidara was looking into it. He had assumed the blond had forgotten. He pushed his food around, sighing softly, "it's alright."

"That's why you like kids, isn't it?" she asked, smiling at him. "Cause you miss your brother and adults always harassed you about what happened."

"Yeah, I guess," he replied quietly. "I just like them…. Is Deidara home?"

"He's probably in his room," she said, taking her cup and rinsing it in the sink. Frowning, Itachi pulled out his map and examined the writing. The blond had labeled everyone's bedrooms on the map, but he hadn't seen any for Deidara. Seeing him looking, Sam came around and brushed his shoulder with her own. "His room isn't on here," she explained after a moment of searching. "Most vampires keep their day time places hidden from everyone because they're vulnerable, so it's not surprising he didn't put it on there. We're not even supposed to know where it is. I only know cause Jack found it by accident and I'm really good at getting secrets out of people." She pointed to a hallway on the mansion Itachi had never been to – he wasn't keen on exploring unmarked areas on the map. "It's right there in this hallway."

"Which door?"

"You can't see it… It's hidden behind one of the paintings."

"What painting?"

"Sasori's."

* * *

The sun was up. He could feel it in his bones as he curled himself up in the tangles of heavy blankets that would never warm him. The tiny world that was his own personal hide out, so stark and crisp with colors not an hour ago was now blurred and grey. Their colors and life died with him, making the world a miserable and ugly place to live in. Even if he had the strength to move about in it, he didn't want to. He could have asked someone from his nest to make the world a little better, to talk to him and keep him company, but he chose not to. They would never bore him, but he was exhausted. Work he'd been putting off by spending time away from the city had to be finished now double time, though he always worked best with a time crunch. It left him drained and exhausted, functioning even less than moral during the day.

He would be hurting when the sun rose completely. Someone else would, too. No one was allowed to come in here. Not even Kit, the one who'd been with him the longest, or Wes, he trusted most. When the sun fell, he would be starving and would have to seriously make it up to the first person he came across.

A sound reached his ears, a creaking and then… soft footsteps on the stone floors and his eyes widened in surprise and anger. Who dare… He couldn't even lift his head to see who would dare enter his room. Jack knew where the door was, but he wasn't a fool. No one came into his room without permission and he never gave it to anyone ever. The air from the outside blew in softly, carrying in the scent so he didn't have to lift his head. The scent made his anger still, eyes widening more in shock.

"I know you can't move," Itachi voice came quietly. "I just… wanted to talk. I haven't seen you in a while…"

"I didn't want to bother you while you were studying," Deidara whispered hoarsely. That was only barely true, and he could smell Itachi knew that, too.

"You don't have to lie," Itachi said softly. "I hurt your feelings."

Deidara closed his eyes and gave a soft huff that sounded halfhearted to his ears, but it was the strongest he could manage. "Vampires don't have feelings," he mumbled as solidly as he could, but he could hear the pounding of Itachi's heart. Not believing him. Deidara didn't say anything else. Vampires didn't have feelings. No more than a dog did – no wait, a cat. No more than a cat. A cat toying with a mouse. Why would a cat be upset when a mouse claimed it didn't like being toyed with? Obviously the mouse had no choice but to play with the cat because the cat was much smarter and stronger than the mouse. Deidara stopped himself with an inward frown. That just sounded stupid.

"Can I come in?" Itachi's hesitant voice questioned.

"You already are, un," Deidara grumbled, realizing too late that Itachi wouldn't react well to that. He heard the faint intake of breath and felt him take a few steps back into the doorway. "No, sorry… come sit with me," he said as Itachi started to turn away. He waited for him to decide it was safe for him to enter and sit down on the edge of the bed. "How have you been? Do you like the house? Are you tired?"

"I've been fine," Itachi told him, fiddling with the sleeve of his sweater. "I've been spending most of the day awake, so I'm not very tired. I was making breakfast and decided to come."

Inhaling slowly, Deidara tasted each scent that reached his nose. Eggs. Toast. Coffee. And… "Sam. I didn't know she knew where this place was."

"Why is your room behind a painting of Sasori?"

"Every vampire has a private place to spend during the day. We're vulnerable."

"But why Sasori?" Itachi insisted. The brunette was shy, but could be forceful. His German was getting very good, Deidara was impressed by his advancements.

"Sasori is my Maker," Deidara replied to him, smiling inwardly.

Itachi frowned, giving him a sideways glance of annoyance. "But you don't seem to like him very much. Everyone is scared of him."

"They don't understand him," he let his eyes drift closed again, staying open only a crack. It suddenly occurred to him that Itachi alone in this room still had color to him, his red eyes staring intently down at him, confused with a question on the tip of his tongue. He started to lift his hand to touch him, but he was too weak and decided to answer his unasked question instead. "I've known Sasori for a long time, un…" he replied quietly. "Drinking a vampire's blood opens a wide range of understanding…and memories."

"You drank his blood?"

Deidara cracked a grin at the expression on Itachi's face. "His blood isn't as sour as his face… Wanna know a secret?" Weakly, he patted the bed next to him and was pleased when Itachi slipped his shoes off and stretched out on his stomach – a decent space away, but he still did it – and looked at him curiously. "Remember how I told you your blood tasted so good?"

"You said it smelled good, too," he replied, resting his chin on his palm.

"Yeah, but… all blood smells good to vampires. But yours, to me, it's just… overwhelming. You smell and taste better than anything I have ever come across, but it's just me. To other vampires you just smell human, un. Sasori had the same thing happen when he met me. I smelled like that to him, un," Deidara told him, his voice quiet so he didn't have to move his chest much from breathing. "Except… He made me into a vampire. I still smell the same to him, but my blood is poison to him now. Vampires can't feed off of the vampires they make, no one knows why. He'll never say it out loud, but he considers turning me his worst mistake, un. I'm so tempting to him, I smell so delicious… like everything would be right in his world if he could just taste my blood again… but he can't. My blood is toxic."

Itachi seemed to be processing this information. Deidara could practically see the knowledge being filled in the archives of his mind. Under V for 'Vampires', with a tag for 'Sasori' and 'Strange Things I've Learned in the Past Few Months. "And you've drunk his blood?"

"Mhm," Deidara said, the corners of his mouth turning up a little. "A New vampire has to drink the blood of the Maker to stay strong in the first few days. Sometimes Makers allow their Made to drink their blood later to keep the connection between them stronger, but most don't like it. Sasori only let me."

"Why? What does vampire blood do?"

"It makes you stronger," Deidara told him. "It heals too, makes you live longer whether you're human or vampire. But blood contains memories in vampires – any vampire. Blood doesn't lie and can't put on a face. A small taste of blood lets you see passed the mask to see what's really going on in their head, or even an old memory. It's very personal."

"Oh… It doesn't turn you into a vampire?" Itachi asked quietly.

"No, there's a lot more that goes into becoming a vampire, un."

"Have you… Are you anyone's Maker?" Itachi questioned.

"No," Deidara replied. He wondered if Itachi believed him. It was true though. Deidara would never do that to someone. How horrible it was to live forever, never changing. He had been changed against his will. He didn't want anyone to go through that.

"Hang on," Itachi said suddenly, pushing himself up higher on the bed. "Have you ever given me blood? Because … when I woke up the first day we arrived, I swear, I've dreamed about this place before. I've smelled the pine trees and seen the hills with all the trees on them. I've never seen them before, but I dreamed about them when we were in Greece."

Deidara gave him a sheepish grin. "You didn't think you healed from that sunburn so quickly by magic, did you?" he asked. "It should have taken weeks, yet there you are, skin back to being perfect." Itachi mumbled that his skin wasn't perfect, but seemed satisfied with his answer. He closed his eyes waiting to see if Itachi would ask any more questions. He didn't mind answering them, especially because part of him was so pleased Itachi had come to him. He felt Itachi shift on the bed suddenly and a scent reached his nose that made him preen helplessly. He could taste his own venom from his fangs like drool as he opened his eyes to stare at Itachi. His human had cut his hand with a small kitchen knife the blond hadn't noticed.

"Please don't bite me," Itachi whispered, holding out his hand. Deidara could feel his bones crunching to dust as he tried to lift himself up to take Itachi's hand. Even with his desperate hunger for the brunette's blood he could barely move; Itachi saw this and lowered his hand to his mouth. Careful not to bite him as he asked, Deidara sucked the wound deeply, moaning happily as he took small mouthfuls of his blood down his throat. The sweetness overwhelmed him, the salt of his sweat and the smell of Itachi's mixed emotions of fear and intrigue. The taste of his blood was like something from a distant memory, his favorite food that he had forgotten about. The venom from his fangs in a bite kept the wounds open, while his saliva healed them like his blood. The wound wouldn't didn't stay open long and too soon his mouth pulled no more and his tongue pressed against new skin instead of the delicate crevice of flesh. He wanted dearly to bite down and take more, but knew that if he did, Itachi would never offer it again. The rush was amazing. He giggled quietly to himself as he laid back down, feeling the drug of Itachi's blood, even a small amount flooding his system like a high. He had patience to wait for Itachi to be willing to give more. He was a Master Vampire after all. Opening his eyes, he found the world less grey.

And Itachi was miraculously clear and colorful. Staring at his hand in wonder, then curiously at Deidara without disgust or fear, but intrigue, he spoke, "you look better now." What had Sam said that made him offer this gift?

"Thank you," Deidara replied, stretching a little as the bit of life rolled through his body and he was able to turn on his side.

"I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

"I told you: vampires don't have feelings, un." He looked up at Itachi with another grin. The blood made him able to move, but not function. He wanted to pounce on him and play with him. He was so thrilled Itachi had come to him freely, because he had been avoiding him, upset that Itachi didn't seem to want to be there and didn't understand why.

He watched Itachi examine his hand a little bit longer then laid down next to him on the bed, turning onto his back. Deidara instantly wormed his way over to curl up against him and Itachi didn't flinch away. In fact, with a deep breath, he shifted and awkwardly reached his arm around him. Deidara gave him a questioning look, but Itachi averted his face. "I've been bounced around in foster homes since my parents died," Itachi murmured quietly. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to people being nice to me."

Deidara didn't answer, not sure of what to say as he rest his head down against Itachi's arm. It was only early afternoon, from what he had observed of Itachi while avoiding him was that he was still most active during the day, doing school work in the library and going outside to play with Rose and that was basically it. Deidara was only fond of research for short pockets of time and couldn't believe the brunette had spent nearly two months in the library. Still, in the quiet of the room, he felt him growing stiller, his eyes heavy and finally slept with the cool form pressed against his chest. Deidara watched him sleep, wondering if he was dreaming and what about. Searching through his own memories, he chose one that was fun and not frightening, telling the memory to himself over and over until he could encapsulate it into the very cells of his body. Carefully, so he wouldn't disturb Itachi, he used his teeth to cut the tip of his finger and let a drop of blood fall into Itachi's partially open mouth. Maybe Itachi would enjoy dreaming about being a pirate.

When the sun finally set, he reached up and gently brushed Itachi's cheeks to wake him up. He blinked at him sleepily then gave him quite a suspicious look before rubbing his eyes. "Good morning," he said quietly.

"Morning," Deidara said, grinning.

"Did you…"

"It's good for you," Deidara insisted, pouting in a way that had steered retribution away from him before. Itachi gave a soft sigh, then sat up with a stretch, but didn't argue about the morality of giving someone blood while they were sleeping. "I have to go. I need to feed and see Rose."

"Is she okay?" Itachi asked, suddenly much wider awake.

"Oh yeah, she'll be fine," Deidara said. "She's a werewolf, and tonight's her first time changing," he added, seeing Itachi's confusion. He translated the word for her and Itachi looked a little surprised. "Rose isn't human, she's not one of mine. She's here because the city isn't safe for her. When werewolves are young, they're easy prey and when they're learning to control themselves, they are a danger to others. The pack here uses my land for their changes and to keep her safe. You can come with me to see her off if you like."

"You can … feed off me … if it will be faster, so you can go," Itachi said quietly, biting the inside of his lip to calm his nerves.

Deidara stared at him long enough for Itachi to begin fidgeting nervously, wondering if he had said something wrong. Was he pushing it? Trying too hard? He wanted to thank Deidara for what he had done for him, giving him a place to stay and sharing wealth and his library with him. He knew Deidara hadn't been treating him well during their trip, but Deidara was also a monster. Monsters had different rules and maybe he had to learn them. He didn't know how else to thank Deidara. What other use was he for?

Finally, the blond smiled crookedly at him and placed a finger on his nose. "I've got blood packets in the kitchen, but thank you for offering, Itachi, un," Deidara said, leaning forward and giving Itachi's ear a little nip that was affectionate and playful.

Itachi trailed Deidara to the kitchen, watching him prepare the packets of blood and down them, then back to the grand entrance. There were quite a number of people Itachi didn't know waiting there; Rose among them holding the hand of the woman Itachi had seen coming out of Rose's room. Studying his friend from behind Deidara, he thought Rose looked nervous, but also determined. The muscles of her bare arms were tense and she shifted from one foot to another like a runner desperate for freedom. She wasn't wearing her normal colorful clothes and accessories tonight, just a plain dress. The adults regarded them as they descended and Itachi wasn't sure how, but he could tell as they grew closer that they were not human. Their eyes held a strangeness that reminded him of wild animals. They didn't look hostile, but something was so intense about them it made the hairs on his arms stand up a little.

"Thank you for this, Deidara," one of the men said to the blond. There was something about the way the man stood and spoke made him feel as though he were in charge, even though he didn't give off the biggest or baddest among them. "This is a very important night for us."

"You're welcome," Deidara replied, grinning down at Rose. He turned to Itachi to explain, "Rose will Shift for the first time tonight. She will be allowed to hunt with her pack until she's an adult. It's important for a young wolf. She's the first in the pack for a while."

Rose looked up at them and gave Itachi a small smile. Uncertain of what to do, Itachi smiled back at her encouragingly and said, "ganbatte." Deidara translated it for him and Rose's smile grew as she tugged the woman's arm and whispered something. The woman's stressed features softened as she gave Itachi her own smile that was so like Rose's he realized she was her mother.

"Let's wait right here," Deidara said, sitting down on the steps with his legs stretched out in front of him. Itachi noticed the blond's shoes had dinosaurs printed on them and gave the blond a slightly skeptical grin. He remembered what Sam had said about Deidara still being a teenager. It was sometimes hard to see because he spoke like an adult.

"Why?" he asked when the blond didn't continue, sitting down next to him.

"It's not safe," he explained simply. "When werewolf pups change for the first time, it's very painful and they don't always survive – don't worry, Rose is strong and she has the strength of the Pack with her," he added when Itachi looked worried. "Also, newly changed wolves only know its own kind, un. Remember that. Rose adores you, but she may not be able to control herself for a while, maybe even until she's an adult. If she can't control herself, she'll be removed, un."

"From the pack?"

"No," Deidara said, twisting his mouth a little. "Lots of paranormal creatures take care of loose cannons among themselves. Humans are weaker than us, but they're dangerous and could wipe us all out, un."

"But it's Rose…"

"Rose as a wolf is still a dangerous creature," Deidara said with a slight shrug. "She's strong. She'll be fine, un."

It didn't make Itachi feel better, but Deidara seemed certain, so he didn't say anything. Deidara seemed to be a loose cannon in his opinion, but maybe his idea of a loose cannon was different than what paranormal beings considered loose. "Why are they using your land?" he asked instead.

"Werewolves have their own territories just like real wolves, but there are things that hunt werewolves," Deidara said quietly. "Older wolves are hard to kill, so instead, they go after the young. Not all wolf-children are born to the change. Some never do, but they remain part of the pack if they wish. Those that have potential to change are in danger, especially during their first change. This pack used to have five pups, but the other four were killed by a Hunter. These wolves' territory overlaps my own in the city, but they need permission to be on the castle's land – it's protected you see. So I made a deal with the wolves. Rose is safer here, because you need permission to enter the grounds. She can live and change without being scared of a Hunter. Plus there's lot of room to run and hunt here, un."

"A Hunter…" Itachi murmured quietly, wondering if there was a handbook that he could read that would give him a basic overview of the world he was part of now. They sat in silence for a while longer until a howl filled the air. Itachi had never heard a wolf howl in person before. The sound was almost musical, hanging in the air. He thought, at first, that the sound was sad, but it really wasn't. It made him smile a little as other howls joined in, a joyful and strong sound and he felt as though he could run over the landscape with them. "Is that why she always ate so much when we went out?" he asked.

Deidara threw his head back and laughed. "Werewolves can eat a place to the ground," he told him, finally hopping to his feet. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was grinning down at him. "Wanna go to the city with me tonight, un?"

"Sure," Itachi said, standing to his feet. They walked to the front door and stepped through, standing in the lights of the main entrance. He wondered why they hadn't been turned on when he had first arrived, but before he could ask, Deidara suddenly lifted him up into his arms and bolted out into the night. The wind whipped his hair back from their face and Itachi had to squeeze his eyes shut to them from drying out. He couldn't tell if they were running or flying and half expected, with Deidara's warning, for the sounds of a hunt to follow them. There weren't any and when Deidara stopped running they were standing at the edge of the city close to the restaurant the humans often went to.

He could see their reflection in the darken window of a closed shop. The blond was holding him effortlessly, but it was comical to see. He was quite a bit taller than Deidara. "Hm. You have a reflection," Itachi commented, placing his feet happily down on solid ground.

Deidara gave him a toothy grin, his fangs peeking over his lips. "Stereotypes are funny, right?" he said, nodding his head. "Come on.

Itachi followed after him, watching the ponytail he pulled his hair in swishing with his steps. "Deidara? Are you pretending?" he asked, frowning at himself as he stumbled over the correct German words to use. Deidara turned to look at him curiously and he felt his chest tighten nervously. "You're nice now… but when I first met you, you were … cruel. Which is the real Deidara?"

"Which do you want me to be?" Deidara asked, the side of his mouth quirking.

"The real Deidara," Itachi said stubbornly not backing down, even though his heart was pounding nervously.

"Everything you see is the real Deidara, un!" the blond told him, looking smug. That didn't make Itachi feel better.

"You told Sam about me," Itachi said as they stopped at a sandwich shop.

"Yeah?" Deidara questioned, glancing at him than ordering a sandwich in German. "Your German has gotten really good. I'm impressed by how fast you're learning it."

"Thanks," Itachi said, bowing his head. "It's really not that good yet, but everyone is helping me practice. Why did you tell her?" he wasn't going to let Deidara change the subject so easily.

"Well, I've been having difficulty finding information about what happened to you on my own, un," Deidara began, slipping his hands into his back pocket and cocking his hips to the side. He switched to Japanese to explain and Itachi was grateful, sitting down to eat the sandwich while he listened. "I suspect it was supernatural of some kind, but that's harder to research. Sam is the best at that, un. Her  
knowledge of paranormal creatures and events is very broad. Why you were left behind baffles me. It sounds like magic, but you don't smell like magic, un. Magic has a very distinct smell that lasts."

"Oh… and she doesn't know?"

"She's still researching."

"Would anyone know?" Itachi asked, looking down at his sandwich. "It was a long time ago…"

Deidara propped his chin up in his hand and thought for a second. "Sasori might… Probably. Definitely. At the very least, he'd be able to offer a clue or something, but Sasori's favors don't come cheap and it's not money he wants. Advice: don't ever make a deal with him. He is crazy."

"You're crazy, too."

"Damn right," Deidara laughed. "Sasori found me in an insane asylum, un!"

Somehow, this fact didn't surprise Itachi at all. Deidara was young though – died young, how crazy was he? It was hard to imagine what life was like when Deidara was still alive and Itachi briefly wondered what it was like to go through different eras. He wondered how Deidara reacted when Sasori found him – had he been excited to be a vampire? Would Deidara tell him? Probably not. "Lots of store are … open late here," he said changing the subject by fishing for German words to use.

"Vampires have been using this city for a long time. Humans forget why they keep their shops open later than normal, un. The City Master before me lived here, too," Deidara held the door of an electronic store open for him. "Here."

Itachi paused as they entered, staring around warily. "Why are we here?"

"You need a proper phone now and you need your own computer, un," Deidara replied with a smirk. "Don't argue, just come." He was nudged and prodded until he finally walked into the store. The lights were bright in the store and he stood miserably in Deidara's shadow as the blond picked out a phone for him and then moved over to examine the computers. He couldn't pay Deidara back for all these things. It gave him an uncomfortable lump in his stomach.

He stopped suddenly, staring around the store. Deidara was speaking to the sales associate a little way away, not paying attention to him. There was no one else in the store, but Itachi felt eyes on him. It wasn't a feeling of dread he normally felt when the sensation hit him, but it was still uncomfortable.

 _That's impossible…_

Frowning slightly, he turned to the window of the store. Someone was standing there watching him. Someone he didn't know, but the expression on the tall man's face whispered recognition.

 _It can't be…. Itachi…?_

"Deidara," he said softly, knowing the blond would be able to hear him. The man didn't seem threatening, but it gave him a strange feeling to hear the thought in his own mind. He couldn't tell if it was his own thought or something else. He glanced over and saw the vampire staring the stranger down angrily. The man didn't look pleased, but backed down first, slipping out of sight from the window. Itachi hurried to the blond's side, nodding and okaying what Deidara had picked out for him. The exchange went unnoticed by the friendly sales clerk and Deidara paid for the merchandise.

"That man knew me," Itachi said quickly as they left, his eyes darting around the street, carrying the bag of his new laptop and phone.

"I don't think so," Deidara assured him, looking irritable.

"He said my name," Itachi insisted.

Deidara gave him an odd look. "He was outside, un," he said. "I would have heard him."

"I heard it in my head," Itachi insisted again, growing frustrated at the dismissal. "I heard it. He said my name. He knew who I was." He felt foolish for saying it out loud, but he felt it was important. In all this strange new world, anything could be possible. Deidara understood abnormal things and he didn't.

The blond stopped and looked at him. He didn't laugh at or mock him. He just stared at him with those piercing blue eyes. "That man was a Shadow Hunter. Like the kind I told you about. His kind kill all sorts of supernatural creatures. Not just werewolves. I don't like that he was here in my city, un."

"How did he know me?"

Deidara raised and dropped a shoulder in response. Very reassuring.

They were walking together down a street lined with stores now, their display lights showing off mannequins in the summer fashion. There were still people walking around, some in pairs, others alone. Itachi noticed a few eyes glancing in their direction, the same sharpness that both Deidara and Sasori had in their eyes, reflecting the lights like cats in the dark. Vampires. But he didn't feel anything dangerous coming from them. With Deidara, the Master of the City, he was safe from the teeth of others. It wasn't until they came to a crosswalk that he felt something wasn't right. A terrible feeling spread through his mind. Run. Get away. It's not safe. RUN. Usually when he got the feeling it was towards a place, but this didn't feel right. He hadn't gotten this feeling since he met Deidara. Now he didn't know where it was coming from, but the red flags few up so suddenly he stopped short.

Deidara stopped as well, noticing his freezing by the curious expression on his face. It became a look of concern as he tilted his head to the side and gave the air a slight sniff. Could he smell his sudden fear? Could he smell what made him so scared?

"Itachi," Deidara said softly in a serious voice. "Come here. Now."

Turning to face the blond, Itachi started to take a step closer to him when a sudden noise sounded from behind him. Within a blink of an eye, Itachi found himself in Deidara's arms, his head inches from the ground. He didn't know Deidara could move so fast. Lifting his eyes to the pale face, he saw a small hole in the blond's forehead. Alarmed, he started to move, but Deidara's muscles were already working the bullet out and with a tiny clink, a piece of metal fell to the sidewalk between them. A bullet. Gunfire. Before those facts could solidify in his brain for him to panic, the ground was gone and Deidara was tucking him safely behind him, Itachi's back pressed securely against a wall.

"Bullets don't work on vampires," Deidara sold coldly. Taller than the blond, Itachi could see the other side of the street where the stranger from the window was standing, the barrel of the fired gun still aimed at them.

The man replied to Deidara too quickly for Itachi to catch, but he was arguing angrily, pointing at Itachi while he did so. Deidara's growl seemed to resonate from his chest, far too deep and dangerous for such a small body. There was a crowd gathering and by the hungry lights of their eyes, Itachi could see they were all vampires. All of them angry. Their intention to kill so strong it made Itachi want to shrink down to the ground, but they were angry at the Hunter for attacking their Master.

Finally, the blond said something slow enough for Itachi to catch. "This is my city. Do you want to die? Do you want to start a war? You have no cause to attack me, which is the only law broken here, un," his voice was cold and as terrible as his growl. "What the hell are you doing in my city?"

"I was passing through," the man said, just as cold, but his voice lacked the feral anger Deidara's had. He pointed at Itachi with his free hand, glaring at Deidara. "What is your business with him?"

"I would like that question answered by you," the blond snapped. "I am the City master, un. Answer, or you'll eat with vampires tonight."

"I am under the protection of the Hunters, you can't kill me—"

Deidara pointed back accusingly. "You shot at me and my own. I consider that you starting it, un."

"Provoked," the man grunted, gesturing with his gun at Itachi, indicating, but not threatening. "You have him."

"You know him?" At Deidara's inquiry, the man clamped his mouth shut and glared at the blond. When he received no answers, Deidara glanced at Itachi. "He wants to take you," he told him in Japanese. "I think he thinks I've taken you against your will, un."

Itachi stared at him, briefly considering reminding the blond that he was here against his will, but complicating the situation any more than it already was. He wondered if Deidara would let him go. Did he want to go? He remembered what had happened earlier that day and swallowed. "I don't to go," he said, certainty in his voice.

"Leave my city," Deidara told the man, the authority in his voice was astounding for someone who looked as though they hadn't hit puberty yet. "Now, and I will forget you shot me with a bullet meant for a wolf, who are under my protection here."

The man hesitated, then took his eyes off the blond to look directly at Itachi. "Your name is Itachi, isn't it? You're Itachi Uchiha."

Deidara's head turned slightly to look at him. He felt no pull from his eyes, something he'd worked out was an attempt at mind control. It never worked on him, but the blond wasn't trying. He was giving Itachi a choice in a confusion situation. That feeling in the store had been real. This man knew him. He knew his name. He knew his last name. Did he know more? Did he know other things? Could he give him answers? It was possible, but that didn't mean it was safe. The stranger had shot at Deidara with no warning; Itachi was certain he could have been hit if Deidara had only moved out of the way instead of moving both of them at once. A bullet meant for a wolf. Had that man been coming here to hurt Rose?

"I want to go back home now," he said quietly to Deidara, feeling foolishly like a child as he spoke.

The muscles in the vampire's face twitched slightly, a tiny glimmer of pleasure shining in his eyes before he turned back to the man. Happiness that Itachi had chosen him. "I'm not starting a war because of you. You have one hour to leave the city unharmed, before I announce the break of treaty and have you hunted down," he gave the man a devilish grin. No doubt Deidara would enjoy that hunt. The man seemed to understand this as well, but said nothing in reply except to glance at the crowd of figures around them.

"My word," Deidara said. "One hour." His eyes swept across the gathering, a silent message being passed with just a look. Then he turned back to Itachi and lifted him up again. An instant later, the scene was gone, Deidara pulling him away from the danger. He ran and ran with Itachi's arms locked tightly around his shoulders until they were once again in the castle. Until they were once again hiding behind the safety of the room hidden behind the painting of Sasori and safe on Deidara's bed.

Itachi sat among the pillows, as far from the door as he could with his back to the wall. By the dim night light he could see Deidara's eyes gleaming as he paced the room angrily. The blond was seething, glancing at Itachi every so often as if to make sure he was alright, then beginning to pace again.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

Deidara turned to look at him, eyes huge in his head. He looked worried, afraid, but Itachi didn't know what of. "I don't know."

"He knew who I was."

The blond was silent for a moment, then came to him, crawling up the bed to nuzzle his head against his knee then crawl up to rest his head in his lap, fingers clutching the fabric of his jeans. "I can't lose you," Deidara's voice was muffled against his leg.

Itachi stared down at the back of his head, unsure of how to feel about the statement and decided not to comment on it. "Who was he?"

"I don't know," the blond murmured, rising again to begin his irritable pacing until Itachi finally fell asleep as his watch ticked 2AM away.


	9. The Summons to Rome

Itachi had long since gotten use to the sight of dark clouds and stars and scattered lights of unrecognizable cities below. Yet he couldn't bring himself to focus on the book he had in his hands and stared out the window instead. Where were they going? What language would he have to learn phrases for? Would Deidara revert back to how he had been in Japan and Greece? He had lived in Deidara's castle for three months and had learned to speak enough 'caveman' German to get by with the help of his housemates. He had even begun to learn English, though he found the language complicated to pair with German because of several similar sounding words. So long as no one said anything relatively complicated, he could carry on a conversation with the other humans and Rose. With Deidara's bemused permission, he had packed an English phrasebook, a few dictionaries, and some of the books he was studying with from the library with his clothing in the sturdy suitcase Deidara had gotten him. Rose had laid on his bed with her bare feet swinging above her as he had packed, commenting on what he should take. She never got to travel, she explained morosely, due to the laws among werewolves unless she was forfeiting her place in the Pack. Not, at least, until she was grown. Both were disappointed to learn that the other had no idea where he was going, only that Deidara had told him that the two of them would be going on a trip together.

The flight was only a few hours, but Deidara had been so absorbed in the movie he was watching since they sat down and had yet to offer any explanation to the purpose of this expedition. Rome had been posted on his itinerary; one question answered at least. What was in Rome? He wanted to talk to the blond, but didn't want to bother him after Deidara had gotten irritated at the announcements interrupting his movies. What were they doing in Italy, he wondered, and why was it just Deidara and him traveling. The others had made him feel as though this was a rare thing to be taken on a trip.

When they landed, he wondered if he'd be allowed to sightsee in Rome, since he had heard of the city before, but didn't get much time to think about it because Deidara had him chase down their bags – the blond's psychedelic colored luggage much more noticeable than his own black one. Who chased his bags down when he was traveling alone, he grumbled to himself as he dragged them over to the waiting blond. A taxi drove them through the artificially lit city, but Itachi had his nose buried in his English phrase book. They spoke Italian in Italy, but perhaps English was more likely to be understood than German here.

The hotel had only one bed, of course. Itachi cringed slightly at the blond as he watched him mess around on his tablet, ignoring the brunette as he sat awkwardly down on the sofa.

"Why are we here?" Itachi finally asked, as the silence grew uncomfortable even for him.

"Work," was Deidara's short reply.

Eyes dropping to the floor, Itachi only nodded and settled back against the stiff hotel sofa. He didn't want to be just a bag carrier or a food bank. The others had jobs, why couldn't he have one too? Maybe he was too new. Jack had been there the shortest before him, just seven years, but with Deidara's blood came a slower aging process and so Jack didn't seem to appear any different in age from himself. Jack was in school for Film and also regulated communication with other German City Masters. Grey was a teacher, Wes was the head gardener, Samantha did research. Kit handled the money, all accounting and income from tributes – apparently, Deidara's great wealth came from payments like taxes for living in his realm or passing through and Kit was extremely good at investing and multiplying that money over such a long period of time. The revenue came to her in different forms and currencies. For Rose and the werewolves, they were buying good faith and mutual protection. Deidara, Grey had explained to him when he had asked, was crazy, but smart. He liked to travel, something that was looked down on in a City Master, but got things done quite efficiently and had the respect of the vampires who lived there. Itachi wanted to be useful too.

"I have a meeting with the City Masters," Deidara finally explained, flipping the soft rubber protection over the screen of his tablet and set it down on the nightstand. "Well, they're not City Masters. They're the Vampire Council that overseas all the vampires around the world, un. I'd like you to stay here. I don't know how this meeting will go and I'll be outnumbered. You'll be safe here. Order some delivery, it'll be good practice for your English. Tell the front desk to put it on the hotel tab." He gave him a bright smile as if that would make him happy and wrote down the hotel name and address for him.

"You're leaving me alone?" Itachi asked, slightly surprised by this. He hadn't been alone since that man had fired a bullet at Deidara. Someone had been there. Always. The only moments of peace he had had were in the bathroom or shower.

"Yeah, but you'll be safe here," Deidara insisted. "You have your cellphone and you can call me any time, I will answer, un." Itachi gave a small smile and nodded slightly. Deidara thought he was concerned about being left alone, where in reality it was the opposite. "I will call you if I'll not be back by sunrise." Jacket on, Deidara gave him another bright smile and left with a smart snap of the hotel door.

Itachi listened for a few moments, but didn't hear a single sound and no one came back.

Exhaling, he leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes, feeling every ounce of tension seeping from his body. Alone at last. The silence of the room wasn't the empty horror the castle had sometimes, but the relaxing quiet of his classrooms at school after everyone had gone home for the day. Getting up, he moved to his suitcase and began putting his clothes away in the closet provided for guests. On the small table by the door was landline and several menus which he took with him back to the sofa and examined them. He was pleased that he could read most of the printed material which was in English and a language that looked a little like English – he assumed was Italian. With the help of his dictionary, which he preferred over the online dictionary Deidara kept suggesting he use, he began to scrutinize which place to order from. Calling the restaurant was an experience. He had to first ask if anyone spoke German, which no one did, so he asked if anyone spoke English, which they did, before slowly ordering his food and telling them where to deliver it, reading the address off of the paper Deidara had given him. When he finally hung up, agitated and stressed, he tried not to feel proud of himself just yet. He'd know for certain if he was successful when his food arrived.

Opening the laptop Deidara had given him, he turned it on and waited patiently for it to start up. He was grateful for all the things Deidara gave him, but sometimes it was just too much. He suspected that Deidara was sorely disappointed in him. Maybe the blond had expected him to be just like the humans back in Germany when he decided to keep him. He wasn't at all. So why had he been chosen to go on this trip? Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he looked at the programs that had been left open since he had last closed the screen. His flashcards of new German vocabulary and an email window. Rose had sent him an email, as did Sam and Grey. It made him smile to see that they had taken the time to contact him. Rose's email contained a video she had recorded on her webcam, begging him to take lots of pictures and to bring her a present. Sam's email was from both her and Hans, wishing him a good trip and a warning against the other vampires in Rome. 'They're not very nice, but Deidara won't let anyone hurt you!' Sam had written. 'Do whatever he tells you!' Grey's email contained a wish for a good trip and suggested joining a tour group if he had time to practice listening.

He emailed them all back telling them they had landed and promising to let them know if something interesting happened; Rose's email contained a picture he went to the window to take of the dark city below, apologizing that there wasn't much to see at night. Afterwards, he opened a new window and began researching the city. Wondering about paranormal creatures now, he included that in his search and was beginning to read about the gods and goddesses and monsters when the phone in the hotel rang. The front desk informed him that his food had arrived. Itachi told them, as instructed, to put it on the room's tab and they assured him someone would bring his food up immediately.

It didn't take long for the food to come up, but it was enough time to wonder if he was really as safe in the room as Deidara thought he was. What if the person bringing up the food wasn't safe? What if it was a vampire and he was going to be kidnapped to make Deidara do something for him? Did vampires hold hostages of other vampires' humans? What if it was a normal human with a gun?

Sighing with self-irritation, he pushed the thoughts away. His outside perspective of the world was skewed by the news, which was generally bad, outside of Japan. People lived in the world every day. Deidara wouldn't have left him here if he didn't think he'd be safe and why would the hotel let someone bring his food up with a gun. Pathetic. He opened the door when a smart knock sounded. There was a young woman dressed in a white button-down shirt and a black skirt that ended just above her knees. Her green eyes were filled with curiosity and in her hands she was carrying a crisp white bag with what he assumed was his order. The curious look lasted only a brief second before she smiled politely at him. "Hello," she greeted in English. "I've brought your delivery."

"Thank you," he replied, relieved she hadn't spoken Italian because he was growing tired of making confused faces whenever he didn't understand a language. He took the bag from her and set it on the small table where the phone was. She was still standing there when he turned back to her, peering nonchalantly into the room. They stared at each other a few seconds longer than was socially comfortable. The girl coughed awkwardly. "Am I supposed to give you something?" Itachi asked uncertainly.

She gave a little giggle, the awkwardness evaporating as she seemed to understand his lack of understanding social conduct here. "Usually, if you're pleased with my service," she replied. "Do they not tip where you're from?"

"Tip?" Itachi asked, frowning at the unknown word.

"Give money," she explained, making a gesture of handing something over. "As thank you."

"Oh, no… no tipping," Itachi said, fishing for English vocabulary. "I thought …only restaurants?" Deidara hadn't said anything about this.

"Well, in nice hotels you give tips, too," she explained. "But don't worry about it. I'll let you slide, this time." She gave him a friendly wink and he found himself smiling back at her. "Enjoy your dinner; please call the front desk if you need anything."

Itachi watched her close the door with a thoughtful look on his face. Interesting. The thought of tipping someone for doing their job was strange to him. In japan, there was no tipping at restaurants or hotels or anywhere really, but apparently it was a normality in other parts of the world. He would have to ask Deidara to leave him some paper money so he could give it to the service workers; so far he had only been given a credit card from Kit with his name on it and the assurance to use it as much as he wanted. He had yet to use it at all. Turning his back to his dinner, he was pleased to see that everything in the bag was what he had ordered. Bringing the bag to the desk, he laid out his meal and began eating the array of strange, foreign food. He enjoyed it all.

After he ate, he wondered if he should go to sleep or wait for Deidara. It was two in the morning and he was starting to feel sleepy, but shivered nervously at the thought of the blond's methods of rousing him. Instead, he picked up his English phrase book and a dictionary and began to practice the phrases, translating words he didn't know. This was like a vacation, but he was still going to study. Casual, useful studying. He wondered if he could learn many languages and be useful to Deidara; though the blond seemed to already know a number of languages already. He wanted to be useful, to put the things he was learning to use. If Deidara had his way, the answer was probably: never.

Around 4AM, his phone began to with a song he didn't know. He didn't remember setting a song as his ringtone, but realized, when he picked it up and saw it was a call from 'The Coolest Vamp' and Deidara's picture that the blond must have done it when he was sleeping. "Not going to be back tonight?" he said into the phone, propping his book upside down on his knee.

"Hello. How's your night been? I'm glad. I'm fine. Thanks for asking. Mine's been productive, but I'm still working," Deidara's irritated sarcastic voice came from the other end before he hung up.

Sighing quietly, he held the phone away from his ear and waited until the song began to ring again a minute or so later. Itachi didn't say anything, but waited for Deidara to speak. "Did you eat?" the blond asked, less sarcastic this time.

"Yes," Itachi said. "I ordered delivery."

"Good," Deidara said, Itachi could almost see him giving a smart nod. "Get some rest tonight, you should go exploring tomorrow. But it's supposed to be warm, so drink a lot of water, un."

"I will," Itachi promised. It felt awkward talking to him. He found himself feeling uncomfortable and tense without the other humans around. He'd made friends with them; Deidara still seemed like the principle of the school.

The blond seemed to sense this because he didn't answer for several breaths. "Don't forget to take that card with you so you can buy things, un. There's no cap on it, so buy as much as you want. And next to my tablet is a necklace. Wear it from now on. Have fun."

"Okay," he nodded, though Deidara couldn't see. "Don't forget to eat, too." He swallowed a little, looking out the window. He hoped Deidara didn't bring someone to the hotel to eat when he came back. Itachi didn't think he could handle something like that.

"Good night, Itachi," Deidara said in a quiet voice before hanging up.

The following afternoon, Itachi embraced his newly found freedom and began exploring the city of Rome in the sunlight. He had the credit card tucked deep in his jacket pocket and his wallet containing euros he had taken out of an ATM after calling Kit to ask her about his paper money problem and discovered he could withdrawal money as well. Both the euros and the credit card seemed to weigh on his attention as he walked because he was terrified of losing either. He didn't like spending other people's money before. Even though Kit had called it his, he certainly hadn't done anything to earn it. Either way, Deidara had said to use it so he intended to spend it on other people.

After stopping for a bite to eat in a small café where he sat outside and watched people walk by, Itachi wandered around a tourist area – at least, he assumed it was a tourist area, as there were people of all different ethnicities and they were dressed in awkward white shoes and held cameras. He slipped in with a group of Japanese tourists, trying to act inconspicuous. The leader didn't seem to be paying much attention anyway and everyone else was too busy taking pictures. It felt amazing to be around people chattering in Japanese again. Even in this unfamiliar city, their voices brought back a heartsick comfort to him and he felt his brain relax a bit from working in overdrive. He listened to the people around him and the group leader chatter away about pillars, mythology, jet lag, and food. When he grew bored, he slipped away and looked for a restaurant to get a snack.

When he was there, he ran into another group of tourists who spoke German together and he got a chance to practice speaking with them as they debated on what to get for lunch. They invited him for drinks, but he declined saying he was too young and sat at a table on the patio where he could continue people watching with his plate of cured meats and cheeses with warm bread and olive oil. All the varieties of language swirling around him soon became background noise as he just watched. All these different people. What were they doing? Were they here for a school event, or was it a vacation they saved up for with friends? Did they know there were werewolves aspiring to be fashion designers? Or that vampires lurked at night?

He was about to reach for the book he had brought with him when he noticed a familiar face in the crowd watching him. It wasn't one he had personally been introduced to, but someone he had noticed quite a few times that day, but had marked it off as one of the random tourists. Not so now. He sat up straighter and stared right back, something Rose had taught him werewolves do to tell others to back off, until the man looked away (as Rose said they usually would – 'But never, ever do it to a werewolf! Just normal people!') and seemed to decide to approach him.

"Why are you following me?" he asked before the stranger could say anything, placing his glass of water on the table.

The man smiled apologetically and ducked his head a little. "I'm sorry, it must seem quite suspicious," he said in German. "I saw you in the crowd of tourist and something about you… ah—" the man shook his head. "Do you belong to someone?"

The question made Itachi blink, forgetting his concern about the stranger for a moment. "Excuse me?" he asked, unsure if he had heard the words correctly or not.

"Do you belong to someone?" the man repeated. "Did you come here with someone?"

"Yes, I came with someone," Itachi said cautiously, frowning again. Thoughts of serial killers ran through his head.

"A … special kind of someone?" the man asked, obviously skirting around the word he wanted to use that would clear up the confusion. When Itachi, not liking this type of word game, remained silent, the stranger's dark eyes seemed to shift over him, finally resting on the necklace that Itachi had instructed him to wear. "You're here with Deidara, yes?"

Itachi looked down at the necklace he couldn't see well resting on his collar bone and touched it. His looked seemed to show that he didn't understand, so the man elaborated. "That necklace… it shows you belong to someone already. It is Deidara, yes? It looks like his design and I know he has come with a human."

"Who are you?" the brunette asked, dropping his hand away from the jewelry piece.

"May I sit?" the man questioned, gesturing towards the chair across from Itachi. Without waiting, he took the seat and folded his hands on the table top. "I am a friend of Deidara's. He asked me to–"

"Check up on me," Itachi finished, eyes darkening. Of course he wasn't going to be left completely on his own like he had thought. It had been too good to be true.

The man gave him a knowing smile and chuckled. "Vampires are like that, you know. You can't hold it against them. They think us humans are too fragile to take care of ourselves, and since they can't do it for us during the day, they do their best."

"Who are you?" Itachi asked again.

"I belong to another vampire who is good friends with Deidara," the man explained casually. "My lady is having a difficult time, so Deidara has taken responsibility for me for the time being. They were close friends, though I choose to remain here in Rome to continue her work in her absence."

"Difficult time?" the question came out before Itachi could stop it.

"Yes… even vampires can sometimes obtain physical and mental struggles, just in different ways that we do." The smile on the man's face seemed sad. "You may call me 'Tal'. I am from India. You are Itachi? Deidara forgot to mention what you looked like, so I apologize for my staring. I was trying to sense Deidara on you, but you've suppressed it well. Deidara is a very strong Master vampire; you must be a powerful Human Servant."

Itachi had no idea what that was, or what it meant. He kept his face as blank as possible, pretending he knew because he was growing tired of feeling confused. He stared down at the remnants of his meal and changed the subject. "I appreciate you coming to check on me, but I don't need your help. I haven't had time to myself in a long time, and if it's the same to you, I'd like to make the best of it," he kept his eyes focused on the plate as intently as he could, forceful, but polite with his words.

There was a silence on the other side of the table before Tal finally shifted to rise. "I understand," he said as he placed something – a card – on the table. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything, even if it's a question."

Itachi watched him go, waiting until he had disappeared around the corner of a building to look back at his food. He suddenly found himself less motivated and lacking in an appetite. It annoyed him greatly that Deidara was checking up on him. What dangers were there during the day with all these people around? Other than the everyday dangers that lacked supernatural horror. Maybe those were the things Deidara was worried for, but Itachi felt he could take care of himself. He had been doing so for quite some time before the blond showed up, after all. With a heavy sigh, he forced himself to eat the remainder of the delicious cheese and bread, not wanting to waste the food and wandered back in the direction of the hotel, stopping in a few stores to purchase things for his friends at home.

"You're unhappy with me, un."

Itachi looked up from the book he was reading on the sofa. The blond had returned that night, but hadn't mentioned anything to him about the stranger Tal, or anything other than a hello before throwing himself onto the bed and playing games on his tablet. Looking at him now, sitting on the bed with his legs crossed and his hands placed over his ankles, Itachi was startled by how young he looked at the moment, pouting unhappily. Despite his youthful appearance, the blond always seemed older and often times threatening; now he didn't look old or threatening at all. Sam's words returned to him about vampires changing too young, how their minds don't age from the time of their death. Fifteen was very young.

Setting his bookmark into the spine of his book, he closed to as a gesture to show the blond that he had his attention. What would he say? What was there to say? It wasn't that he was unhappy, but … he wasn't happy. Sure he was happy when he was exploring, but that was when he was alone. He took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts to explain. "You're … stopped," he finally replied, earning a confused look from the blond. "You're always the same age, have had years to do anything you want. It's the same with the others in Germany."

"I've offered you a place with us, un," Deidara replied, brows creased with a frown of confusion. "You won't age either."

"It's not just that," Itachi said quietly. "Everyone has a duty… a job or a purpose for you. I'm just here. And I'm never alone anymore."

"You're safe," Deidara said, sounding pleased with this.

"I'm bored," Itachi finally got out. That really was it. He'd been fishing for the right word and it slipped out on its own. If he dug down into the thick of it, that was the heart of his issues. "I have no purpose. Before you came, I had a goal and I was working hard to achieve that goal. To get back on my feet, to be able to live without help of the government. Now I don't have that … I don't know what to do with myself. I have no purpose except to be your food and you get mad when I say that," he added when Deidara opened his mouth to speak, "but I don't see why else I'm here. And on top of that, I never have any time to myself anymore. Someone is always there. I like … being alone."

Deidara closed his mouth and stared at him with slow blinking eyes. Itachi stubbornly held his gaze, not backing down. Finally, the blond's posture slumped and he looked away. "I enjoy your company sometimes, un," the blond said, unfolding his legs into the other direction, fingers picking at a loose threat on the comforter.

"I must disappoint you then," Itachi said, watching him tear the thread. When the blond didn't seem to know how to reply, Itachi sighed and picked up his book again.

"I think you'd have fun if you stopped thinking so negatively, un."

"You kidnapped me and dragged me around doing what you wanted to me until you got back to your other people."

"Why are you so hung up on that?" Deidara snapped, angrily standing up on the mattress. "You came willingly. I could have killed you and no one would have missed you, un!"

"So why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to!" Deidara yelled, throwing a pillow – the closest thing to him – angrily at the wall. Itachi watched him, silently amazed by the change. He didn't want to anger him too much, the warning on the last night in Greece was still fresh in his mind, but the blond seemed to be legitimately throwing a tantrum. "Why do you always act so melodramatic, un? You ask so many questions, un!" the blond snapped, foot stomping and everything.

"I thought you liked that about me," Itachi questioned.

"You don't ask the right ones, un! I don't treat you badly! I give you thinks! I take you places! I keep you safe! I don't take from you – like I could, un!" There went the end table.

"Calm down," Itachi said softly.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I am calm!"

"No, you're not."

"I can do what I want, un!"

"They'll throw us out if you break anything else," Itachi said, keeping his voice calm and steady. That seemed to be logical enough to Deidara because he threw himself onto the bed with his back to him. Itachi sighed. "Throwing a tantrum won't get you what you want." Deidara's reply was just an animalistic growl that held no danger in it and only made Itachi roll his eyes a little. "I just want a purpose, Deidara. That's all. I don't understand why you have me here; the only think I can think of is food, but you get pissed when I say that," he repeated.

"Of course, un!" the blond snapped.

"What do you want of me, then?"

"I want you to stop acting like a prisoner!" he turned to face him, sitting up with his fists clenched in the blankets. "Why can't you just enjoy yourself, un?!"

"I just told you, weren't you listening?"

"Course I was, un," the blond growled.

"No, you weren't," Itachi sighed. "Don't do that, you'll tear the blankets."

Deidara released his hold on the blankets he had been digging into and folded his arms haughtily. "Why won't you just be happy, un?"

"You can't just make someone be happy, Deidara."

"Everyone else is happy."

"I'm not like them."

"I've noticed!"

"So you are disappointed."

Deidara growled at him against and flopped down on the bed facing away from him again. A teenager's tantrum with a monster's claws. Itachi set his book down beside him on the sofa and watched his back, seeing his muscles shifting as he tensed with irritation. A few weeks ago, Deidara had returned to the castle from a meeting with another City Master in a different part of Germany in such a temper he had destroyed several things in the common area before Kit came home from work and calmed him down. She had talked quietly to him, and got him to sit down while she rubbed his back softly. Itachi didn't think he had the capacity to calm the blond down, but he moved to sit on the bed behind him, reaching out and awkwardly patting his back. "Deidara," he said, trying to speak evenly though he was annoyed that he had to justify how he felt to someone throwing a tantrum. "I've had someone shoot at me, water creatures try to drown me, vampires have bitten me. I've been uprooted from my home and everything I've ever known… I'm still … adjusting," he added softly. "It's not your fault, even though you … did most of it. I haven't been happy in a long time. It's just taking me longer to get used to the change. You're not easy to be around all the time. I don't know how you expect me to suddenly be happy and content after Greece." He removed his hand then and tucked it into his lap.

Deidara finally rolled over to look at him, eyes guarded, but still young and upset. His mind was that of a teenager, not an adult. He looked annoyed and upset at the same time, unsure of what to make of the situation. "I don't understand you, un," the blond muttered. "I gave you all this and let you travel. Anyone else would be happy."

"I told you, I'm not li—"

"I heard you!" Deidara snapped again.

"Were you happy?" Itachi asked when a few moments of silence passed. "When Sasori took you?"

The question seemed to take Deidara by surprise. A strange shift of emotions swept his face. Shock, anger, concern, stunned. He stared at Itachi so long, the brunette began to think he had said something that shouldn't have been said and wondered if he had just succeeded in making the blond even more angry. Deidara didn't say anything as he finally got up and closed himself into the bathroom. Itachi watched the door for a few moments then sighed when he heard the shower running and got up to change into pajamas and put away his things. He wondered if he should clean up the broken end table, but decided not to since it had been the blond who had destroyed it. Knowing Deidara didn't need any light to see by, he turned them off and climbed into bed.

It had taken him a while to fall asleep, but he was only dozing for a few moments when he felt fingers scratching at his back. Making a questioning noise, he rolled over and Deidara turned the little reading light over the bed on so Itachi could see him sitting there looking uncomfortable. "Sasori is different from me," he began in a small voice. "His bite doesn't make your body react pleasantly. It hurts as much as it should to be bitten by him, sometimes more. That's why he's called 'Sasori', un. He thought the name suited him." He watched Itachi frown, translating the word in silence. "And…. Sasori didn't uproot me. Not at first. He had followers then, vampires who obeyed because he was their Maker, or because they were scared, un. Sasori likes studying science, anatomy, and how bodies work. Vampire venom gives pleasure while saliva closes up wounds. If his subjects didn't die from shock, they were useful," his voice was quiet and unlike him as he spoke, staring down at his knees as he explained this to Itachi. "He found me. I was useful. And, I smelled good to him. Better than anything, just like you do to me. I was his favorite toy," He gave an ironic looking smirk, that also had a hint of pride in it. "He took me from Germany when people began suspecting something and when I tried run away from him, he changed me to control me. I didn't want to be a vampire. Now he can't feed from me anymore and I won't ever end, un. Serves him right." There was a smugness in Deidara's expression, but behind it, Itachi thought he looked sad.

"You liked him," he said, tilting his head to the side to see him better.

"No, I understand him," Deidara corrected.

"It's more than that," Itachi whispered under his breath, unsure if this was uncharted waters. "I saw how you interacted with him in Greece. I'm not stupid."

Deidara finally looked up at him, blinking slowly out of habit to appear human. "No, you're not. You're not," he murmured, running his fingers through a lock of his damp blond hair. "I guess… he's chiin." Itachi blinked, surprised by the word Deidara had used. It wasn't one people used much except in classical poetry. A friend. Tender and intimate. So close you would recognize them simply by something they composed. "After he changed me, we lived together for a long time. It was easier to get along than fight all the time, un. He couldn't feed on me, but I was the only other child vampire alive then, the only one for him to play with." He was talking as if this was nothing, but Itachi could see it was more complicated than the blond was making it sound. When he had explained it before, he claimed their relationship was close because he had drunk Sasori's blood, this showed it was more than just that. What exactly did drinking blood do?

Instead of asking, he decided to change the subject to show he had, in part, forgiven the blond for kidnapping him from his home. "Did you send someone to spy on me today?" he asked, pushing himself up to lean against the pillows and headboard.

"Spy on you?" Deidara's eyes became wide and innocent, but Itachi gave him a frown and he pursed his lips into a pout. "Tal is nice. You didn't like him?"

"I don't like being spied on," Itachi said. "I was enjoying my alone time."

The blond's brows knit together. "It's dangerous out there," he insisted. "I thought you'd like him. You have very similar grown-up personalities, un."

"It's dangerous everywhere," Itachi said to his lap. "I know how to take care of myself and I made sure to be back before the sun went down. I didn't dislike him, I just don't like that you feel the need to babysit me everywhere I go."

"There's dangerous things out during the day, un."

"You leave the others on their own, don't you worry about them?"

"Sure, but they're older than you," Deidara said, folding his arms tightly. "They know this world a lot more than you do and they haven't been threatened by a damn Shadow Hunter, un."

Exhaling in a disappointed manner, Itachi slid back down on the bed and rolled over on his stomach. This was going nowhere; he might as well get some sleep. Light fingers scratched gently at his back after the silence had gone on enough for him to become drowsy. Hoping he'd be left alone, he didn't acknowledge them, but the scratching turned to tugging and tugging turned into Deidara crawling under the covers to drape himself on top of him. Used to the blond being cold, he was a little surprised to find him quite warm and comfortable. The shower must have warmed him up.

"What'd you do today?" he asked, snuggling against his back.

"Went sightseeing, got food… bought presents for everyone," Itachi mumbled, willing himself to fall asleep.

Deidara's fingers slid up under his shirt and he tried not to react. He didn't want this to go too far, so he pulled something random out of his head as a distraction. "What is a Human Servant?" he asked.

"Hn," the blond mused disappointedly, knowing why Itachi had asked. "They're humans who have special connections to a vampire, un."

A special connection… Itachi's brows furrowed into his pillow. What type of connection? Why did that man think he was a Human Servant? It sounded more important than what Itachi was. "Am I your Human Servant?" he questioned.

"Tal is my friend's Human Servant," Deidara continued, pressing his nose against the space between his shoulder blades and inhaling slowly. "He's over a hundred years old, I think. My friend calls herself Kali, after the Hindu goddess, and lived here in Rome as a member of the Vampire Court and worked as a liaison between the Shadow Hunters for them. They lived together for a very long time, but Kali became Bloodstarved and it's safer for her to be alone until she recovers, un."

"What happens when someone is Bloodstarved?" Itachi asked, slightly annoyed that Deidara had answered him without really answering him.

"It means that a vampire can't control their thirst," the blond told him, continuing the slow inhales against his back; it was a little unnerving, but Itachi tried to ignore it. "You can kill people by accident because you're so hungry. Even a hungry vampire can control themselves, but when you're Bloodstarved it's impossible. Kali was scared she would hurt Tal, so she left him in my care, un. He stays here and does politics as much as he can, but he can't replace Kali's work because Shadow Hunters don't trust humans who work for vampires, un… I'm glad he does though, because I hate politics."

Making a small noise, Itachi drew the covers tighter around him. "I'm tired," he murmured, shifting to try to knock the blond off him.

Deidara didn't say anything, but sighed and pulled himself away from his skin, muttering quietly under his breath as he settled down on the bed next to him. The walking he had done was catching up at him, and despite the frustrations he had with Deidara, he did enjoy himself today. As he was drifting off, he heard Deidara whisper softly that he was sorry and he had to, but he was asleep before he could question what he was talking about.

"Itachi… Itachi…"

The sound of his name pulled him from the dreamland he was in. The room was dark as he opened his sleep blurred eyes, the only light coming from the tiny nightlight from the open bathroom door, casting eerie shadows where its weak orange light couldn't reach. The clock on his nightstand read 9:21AM. Rolling over, he blinked sleepily at Deidara who was still lying next to him, unmoving as the sun rose. The blond's eyes were closed, and even in the dim lighting, he could see the effects of the sun in the sickly shadows on his face. The blond must have woken him up, but before he could ask, he heard another, lighter, sound. Deidara's phone was buzzing on the other side of the bed.

"Please answer the phone," the vampire whispered hoarsely.

Nodding sleepily, Itachi twisted to reach over him and pick up the phone. As he lay back down on the bed, Deidara's head shifted slightly to rest on his shoulder, his body cold again. "Hello?" Itachi said into the phone.

"Hello. Is your master present?" the voice on the other end questioned smartly.

"Yes," Itachi said, after Deidara gave a slight nod.

"My apologies for the lateness of the hour," the voice said, addressing both of them. "Deidara's presence is … requested in the Court tomorrow as soon as the sun is down." Itachi glanced at the blond to make sure he had heard what was said, but then the voice continued, causing a chill to go down his spine. "So is yours, Itachi."


	10. The Vampire Court

He tried to go back to sleep. He really did. He was still exhausted from walking all day, but his mind had begun to run wild with thoughts. His presence was requested at the Court. The Vampire Court, the one that oversaw the laws for vampires all over the world. Why did they want to see him? Had he done something wrong? Had Deidara done something wrong? What had happened? Why hadn't he been called when Deidara went the first night? He had never been around more than two vampires at a time before. The ones living in Deidara's castle kept a wide berth from Deidara's humans, save for the few they interacted with and Itachi had interacted more with the other vampire's humans who worked for Deidara such as the driver who picked them up and dropped them off at the airport. Most of the time he saw the vampires from a distance. And Deidara … well, he did trust Deidara, he supposed. He wasn't entirely sure why he trusted him, but, he reasoned, he knew at least that he could trust Deidara to make sure he wouldn't die. For all his talk about liking his company, Itachi knew that the root of his desire to protect him was deeply seeded in the need to keep him alive because of the blood he enjoyed so much.

The blond was still lying on the bed in his Suntime Death, but his eyes were wide open and was watching him closely. It was a little unnerving, especially because of the milky film over his eyes that made him appear partially blind.

"I… I'm going to take a bath," Itachi told him, pushing himself off the bed and going into the bathroom. He needed to be alone for a while. Especially if he was possibly going to die in a few hours. Or worse. Worse seemed to be the preferred vampire way.

After a quick shower, he sat on the plush bathroom rug while he waited for the water to fill the tub, wishing he had his huge bathtub at home. He did not like vampires. The werewolves were okay, he enjoyed their company, but the vampires, not so much. So far, all of the vampires he met were pushy and arrogant, selfish and hungry. He didn't understand them and really didn't want to go to this court. What would they do to him? What did they want with him?

"Itachi…"

Startled, Itachi grabbed for the towel to cover himself as he turned to the door where Deidara stood, gripping the wood for support. His jaw was set and muscles shaking from the effort of keeping himself upright during the day. Itachi hurriedly wrapped the towel around his waist and stood to help support the blond and lower him to sit on the floor. He waited for Deidara to say more, but he was silent and looked as though he had passed out, head leaning against the tub. Sighing quietly and mourning the loss of his solitude, Itachi closed the bathroom door again and slipped into the hot water as discretely as he could. Several minutes of silence passed between them before Deidara finally turned his head to face him.

"I know you're scared," the blond's voice was a weak whisper. "I won't let anything happen to you, un. I promise."

Not let anything happen to him. For all his faults, Deidara was persistent with keeping him safe. He didn't understand official business with vampires; perhaps he could learn something today. Hopefully it wouldn't be the hard way. "Will Tal be there?" he asked softly, stretching his legs out under the water.

"Yes," Deidara replied.

He had been rude to him the day before, but he would apologize to him as soon as they met again. "Am I in trouble?" he asked quietly.

"No," the blond shifted again, slowly twisting to face him, his hand reaching out to touch his cheek. It looked painful to move and his fingers were cold again. "You've done nothing wrong, un."

"Did you do something wrong?" Itachi asked, looking down at the blond head as he rest his cheek on the tub again, hand dropping in an exhausted manner.

"Don't worry so much," he murmured.

Itachi didn't know how not to worry, especially since that sounded like a very firm yes. He didn't understand why he had to come. "Do you need to eat before we go?" he asked tentatively.

"No, I'll be fine," Deidara said quietly. "I just don't want you to worry, un."

"I'll try," he replied just as quietly, slipping deeper into the water.

Deidara played with his hair as the taxi drove the two of them through the streets towards the Court. He should have eaten. It had been a very big mistake not to, but he could smell how terrified Itachi was and didn't want to put him through more stress by feeding from him. It was stupid of him. Very, very stupid. He glanced at the brunette now, wondering if he should ask for some, but decided against it. Itachi had chosen nice looking clothes when it had first been time to leave, but the blond made him change. Itachi had argued that most people dressed up to go to a court, but Deidara countered that he wasn't, so Itachi didn't have to either. Itachi had seemed distinctly unimpressed by his faded jeans and old band t-shirt, but Deidara wasn't going to make an impression. It was something both he and Sasori agreed upon: Impressions were for the weak minded. He was stronger than these vampires. They should be showing off to him.

Sasori wouldn't have approved of his obedience to the Court's rules either, but Deidara had his own reasons for doing so. He wasn't content with living in a barren desert wasteland where it was so difficult to travel to that no one ever visited. Vampires couldn't arrive there easily because it took a few days to get there by foot and you needed to know the secret places to hide from the sun. Sasori had ensured that the only type of person that might happen on his oasis was a human who would not pose a threat to him during the day and would provide a delicious snack. Sasori liked being alone. Deidara did not. He liked his castle and the city surrounding it, so he would put up with the court.

Of course, he knew why they were being called and why this hadn't been addressed earlier. It was annoying and frustrating to have to deal with. They couldn't control him, so they did little things to manipulate him to show him that they were still in charge despite his skills. Forcing him to do business last night so they could be nosey tonight. Taking Itachi from Japan without consulting with the Master Vampire of Tokyo was technically illegal in the vampire world, but Deidara was still irritated that the Master hadn't greeted him on arrival so they all could just kiss his a—

"Do I need to say anything specific?" Itachi's voice interrupted his mental rant. His eyes were watching him from the other side of the car, composed and no longer showing his fear.

"Nah, just be natural, un," Deidara assured him. "They'll like you a lot more than they like me." He snickered quietly while shifting to cross his legs.

The drive was not long and when they got out, Deidara sauntered down the sidewalk with Itachi following close behind. He was putting on a show of power, not looking around or back at his following human, but his attention was in a wide circle to ensure that nothing would sneak up on them. He could tell Itachi was closely examining the area, taking in everything they passed. From what Grey had told him, Itachi had such a good memory that he could remember things nearly perfectly after reading them only once. It was this reason, Grey had decided, that Itachi was so good at learning vocabulary so quickly. Deidara bet that even if he was alone, Itachi would have been able to find his way back to the hotel easily and also tell him how many stores they had passed on the way. He suppressed a grin. His human was so smart.

They stopped at door that gave the appearance of an old church front, decorated with carved wooden doors and grand statues watching from above. There were two vampire guards standing by the door, watching them approach. They eyed Deidara cautiously, distrust and slight fear rising in their scents. They knew he was stronger than them. His smirk fell when their eyes turned hungry when they began examining Itachi. To Itachi's credit, he didn't shrink from their gaze, but stood still behind Deidara. Trust. Deidara could have preened happily.

"We're invited," Deidara said smugly instead, drawing their attention back to him. "No welcome party, un?"

"You're expected, Deidara," replied one of them, standing aside to allow them to go through the doors.

"Pitiful," Deidara snorted, baring his teeth at them. He walked through the doors with Itachi right on his heels. The brunette began eyeing everything they passed. The hallways, the doors, the turns, the decorations… the fact that no one above knew that this fancy place existed under them. Such a smart human.

They passed several people, some humans, some vampires, stepping down a few stairs cases before they reached the double doors that would open to the main hall. Itachi was silent the whole way through, appearing more curious than nervous. Thoughtful, as though he were conversing in his head with himself. He didn't know it, but he was acting quite well for not knowing what part he was playing. The blond felt a little guilty for putting him through this, but he had been backed in a corner and didn't know how else to manage it.

Tal was waiting for them at the closed doors, nodding his head politely at them and reached out to shake their hands. "I'm sorry I was rude yesterday," Itachi said before either of them could speak.

Tal smiled and placed his free hand on top of their clasped ones and gave him a gentle squeeze. "That is alright. I understand why you were frustrated," he said in his calm, soothing voice. "My offer still stands. If you need anything at all, please feel free to ask."

Itachi thanked them as the blond threw both doors open dramatically, smirking sadistically as the people within startled a little, turning to see who had intruded without introduction. "Good evening," he said loudly, sauntering into the room, flanked by the two humans. "I heard you wanted to see me, un. It's been so long. Eighteen hours is such a lifetime. How ever will you manage when I go back home, un?"

The vampires in the room looked both annoyed and amused by his rudeness. Several sat at tables and others lounged on fainting couches with books in their hands. There were five groupings of vampires on the dais in the back of the room, the High Court Vampires who ruled over all. Deidara watched them with their human slaves and lesser vampire servants as he approached. They looked mad at his rudeness, just as disproving as Itachi gaze on his back, but didn't say anything. They weren't entirely powerful enough to challenge him over something so petty. The High Court Vampires stood and moved together to the center of the dais to address him, the tallest spreading his arms wide in greeting.

"Deidara," he said, smiling wide enough to show off his fangs. "We always miss you greatly when you are gone from us. Your playful youthfulness gives us such joy."

"I'm sure you do miss me," Deidara said, using German instead of Italian so Itachi could understand, a little annoyed that they were dismissing his human when they called for him. "And you've requested my Itachi." He gave the man a crude smile and got straight to the point. "You could have asked me to bring him yesterday. What do you want with him, un?"

The vampires looked at him intently, but the man continued in Italian. "We wanted to meet him. You and your Maker are known for having such picky tastes; and a Human Servant no less. Of course we would want to see him."

"Well, you've seen him," Deidara grumbled in German. "If that's all, I'm going to take him back to the hotel so he can get a good night's sleep, since you interrupted it earlier, un. It's his first time in Rome, after all, it should be good memories."

He turned to go but one of the female vampires stepped down from her position to reach for Itachi. "Your first time? Welcome to Rome," she said, smiling at him, but Deidara stepped in front of Itachi to stop her from getting too close. He bared his teeth at her warningly and she gave him a coy look.

"She's pleased you're visiting Rome for the first time," he told Itachi.

"Thank you," Itachi said, in English, smiling at her, though it was forced.

"Do you like it?" she asked him, and Deidara translated.

"Yes, it's a nice city," Itachi told her, glancing at Deidara in confusion, probably wondering why no one was speaking to him in a language he did when they clearly understood what he was saying.

"What do you think of Germany?" the female vampire still on the dais asked in Italian as well, her finger rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"I like it a lot," Itachi told her. "It's a very beautiful country."

"Don't you miss Tokyo?" she asked, finally using English.

And here we get to it. Deidara's eyes narrowed sharply at her, then glanced back at Itachi, whose eyes had widened slightly as if he understood the danger laced under her seemingly innocent question. Maybe not entirely, but partially. "No," Itachi said with a shake of his head. His heart beat didn't waver, either the truth, or Itachi was better at lying than Deidara thought.

"Not at all?" she asked. "Deidara has taken you from the home you grew up in."

"He didn't take me," Itachi said calmly. "He offered me a place and I chose to go with him."

"Do you know it is illegal for a vampire to take a human from another vampire's territory?" she asked, shifting to lounge back on her old-fashioned couch.

"The City Master is supposed to greet newcomers upon their arrival," Deidara growled, glaring darkly at her. "I received no such greeting."

They didn't answer him, but looked at Itachi, who frowned a little. "As I said, I wasn't taken," he insisted. The court looked amused by Itachi's answers and Deidara had to smirk a bit. Itachi was answering cleverly, but politely.

"You willingly walked into slavery to a vampire?" she asked, her face fox like in her attempt to trap the brunette.

"My humans aren't slaves," Deidara snapped angrily at the same time Itachi insisted he wasn't a slave.

One of the other male vampires gave a short laugh and shared a look with another. "You and your unorthodox ways, Deidara. Humans are our slaves, what good are they otherwise? I will never understand you and your love for other creatures."

"And yet I have the most peaceful of all the European territories, un," Deidara countered.

"Consorting with beasts."

"Werewolves are far more civilized than most vampires," Deidara sneered.

"We are not slaves," Itachi insisted again, then seemed to glance around the room at those who were clearly human. Clearly human, and clearly baring the markings of a torturous life. He looked at Deidara, visibly upset by their appearance, but the blond couldn't do anything about the humans here. "I went willingly with Deidara," the brunette finally said. "I have never belonged to any vampire, but him."

"Of course," the first vampire spoke again in Italian, sucking the pleasure from Itachi's previous statement from the blond. "We have received word from the Shadow Hunters about you, Deidara. You threatened them while they passed through your city."

"That Hunter opened fire at me and Itachi without cause, un," Deidara glared, using German just as stubbornly.

"They claim to have cause," he whispered.

"On what grounds?"

"The Hunters have threated war if your actions go unpunished."

The blond fell silent, feeling Itachi's confusion at what was being said, but he didn't translate for him. Something strange was going on. War was not a light threat to give, and generally not for something so simple as having a human. He replayed the night of the altercation over in his head, searching for some clue to answer this mess. He turned to look back at Itachi, then back up at the Court Vampires without answering the silent questions in the brunette's eyes. "Itachi is my Human Servant," he stated in Italian.

"Yes," the man sneered. "Which means we cannot consider returning the human to his rightful place with the Tokyo Master, regardless of what the Hunters want. How convenient of you, Deidara… to ensure that you cannot be parted with your precious pet."

"It must be a hard decision for you," he murmured quietly, still speaking in Italian. "Open war with the Hunters, or punishing me."

A deadly gleam shown in their eyes, hunger for mayhem, violence and freedom to kill. No matter the strength of the vampires, Hunters kept the paranormal in line, a thorn in the side of immortality. Yet all forms of paranormal had issues with one another. If the vampires held war with Hunters, all manner of creatures could decide to enter the fray. The idea was appealing to an extent, but it would also mean civil war for turf and distrust and loyalties that would take centuries to settle again. Finding a safe place for his humans would be virtually impossible. The other choice was equally appealing to the sadistic coven of vampires who regularly had to put up with Deidara's aversion to rules and love of loopholes. To be able to take their frustrations out on him without the risk of his retaliation – using Itachi as a leverage against him. If they were shallow enough to hold a grudge against Sasori, his Maker, the fault against the Vampire Court was practically endless.

He could see their decision in the sadistic looks in their eyes. He was an idiot. He should have fed before they arrived. "And my Human Servant?" he questioned coolly.

"Human Servants are honored guests and will receive the best for your cooperation," the man said, grinning evilly. "No one will harm him and he will be well fed. Honestly, Deidara, do you think we're barbaric?"

The blond didn't answer, just gave the man a look to show exactly what he thought they were. Instead, he turned to face the two humans behind him, one looking very confused, the other pale. Deidara smiled brightly at Itachi. "Turns out they were just being nosey and don't need you for anything, un. I have to stay here for a while though, so instead of going back to the hotel, you're going to get your own room here, un. Tal, look after him," he added, keeping his voice light as he handed the man the overnight bag he had packed.

"How touching," the smaller vampire behind them murmured, interrupting whatever it was Itachi was going to ask.

"How long?" Tal asked quietly, swallowing thickly as he looked from Deidara to the High Court.

"Standard for each of his faults." Which meant as long as they damn well pleased.

"Please take the humans to their housing," a human was instructed. A woman rose and hurried forward, eyes on the ground as she waited for the humans to follow her, but Itachi didn't move.

"Wait," he stammered out, looking from the five vampires to Deidara. "I don't understand, what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Deidara said quietly.

"You're lying to me," Itachi insisted, staring at Deidara.

"I told you not to worry," Deidara replied, glancing at Tal, who gripped Itachi's arm and pulled him after the human woman before Itachi could protest more. "It's just business."

He felt fingers sliding through his hair, catching on a tangle before they rested around his neck and a voice purred in his voice. "Yes… let's talk business."

"What is going on?" Itachi demanded of Tal the second they were left alone in the room that he would be staying in. It was a nice room that was well furnished and warm despite being underground. There was a small kitchenette and a bathroom attached to it, but Itachi wasn't impressed. "Something is wrong. I'm not stupid. What happened?"

"I don't really understand myself," Tal said, looking pale and worried, looking up from examining the overnight bag. "The Court said you were attacked by a Shadow Hunter?"

"Yes, but that was weeks ago," Itachi said, frowning at his reflection in the decorated standing mirror across the room from him. He thought back to the night when the stranger had fired at him. He had only understood snippets of the conversation, but the words weren't returning to him easily. "He wanted me to come with him. Deidara said he thought I was with him against my will."

"Were you?"

"Why do people keep questioning that?" Itachi demanded, frowning at Tal. "I said I wasn't."

"Most people don't go willingly with vampires," Tal explained in a gentle voice. "And the Vampires here consider all humans as slaves to them… Even if you had never spoken to a vampire before, they consider you as belonging to the City Master before Deidara… Taking you from Japan was Deidara skirting the rules. He's good at that, but the court considers it illegal, but there's nothing they can do about it now."

"Why?"

"Because you're Deidara's Human Servant," Tal sat down on one of the stuffed chairs, resting his elbows on his knees. "Vampires respect magic, especially magic they don't fully understand. There is a magic between a Human Servant and their vampire – I'm sure you've noticed. It isn't pleasant to be distanced from your vampire and it's virtually impossible to undo the magic that creates the union without someone dying. They can't kill Deidara, he's too useful to them. They can't kill you because Deidara would kill them all, plus there is the threat of the Hunters. If you weren't a Human Servant…" Tal sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't think the vampires would hand you over to the Shadow Hunters, but they might just send you back to Japan… or would allow free range for anyone who wanted to feed you. I'm not sure if Deidara would be able to stop them all."

Itachi continued to stare at his reflection, making sure his reflection remained composed and didn't show the shock and horror he was feeling as realization dawned on him what Deidara had done. The warnings in the back of his mind blazed back in a slight panic from where they had settled down after they left the main room. He was not Deidara's Human Servant. Deidara had lied to keep him safe. The blond had kept skirting around the answer when Itachi had asked him, letting him believe that maybe he was and it was a simple thing. Itachi had a feeling now that he'd be able to tell if he truly was a human servant. Now he had to keep face or he would die.

"What do the Hunters have to do with this then?" Itachi finally asked. "Deidara said Hunters kill werewolves."

"They kill all kinds of paranormal creatures," Tal explained. "I don't know much about them, they're very private. Usually, they go after bad cases, keeping the peace and preventing paranormal creatures that feed off of humans from devastating the human race. But, they really do hate all of them and any human who associates with paranormal creatures. They're not really human themselves. Apparently, they contacted the Court Coven, demanding that you were released from Deidara's possession, but they couldn't because you're Deidara's Human Servant, so they threatened war if Deidara wasn't punished for threatening that Hunter. If he'd killed him, it would have started a war itself, no matter how justified the vampires would see it."

"…So Deidara's being punished?" Itachi asked, turning to face Tal.

"They gave him the choice of accepting punishment or going to war with the Hunters," Tal said quietly. "I'm surprised he chose to be punished… He likes the chaos of war." The man gave a shaky sigh, running his hands through his hair again, then looked up at Itachi. "They won't kill him. He's too important and too strong, so are you. But if you sense he's in deadly danger… you might be able to contact Sasori through your connection. Sasori is Deidara's Maker, and he's a lone vampire – not part of the vampire court, and he's old. He'd kill them all if they seriously hurt Deidara. Sasori is…"

"Possessive," Itachi finished. "I know. I… I think I'd like to be alone now." He didn't know how long he could keep his panic down.

"My living quarters is to the left, three doors down if you need me," Tal told him. "I think Deidara suspected something. He packed you a bag and included your computer and charger inside."

Itachi didn't know what he had done, but he knew it was his fault. That much was clear. The Hunter had wanted him. Why had he shot at them? Why did they send that threat? Why did Deidara have to pay the price instead of him? He stayed in his room all day, staring at the wall while he mulled over his thoughts, waiting for Deidara to come back to him. One day became two days, two days became two weeks, two weeks turned into a month and a half. He could no longer bring himself to read the emails from the others back in Germany because he didn't know what to tell them. He didn't leave the Court, and after an unpleasant run in with a group of vampires, didn't leave his room. He had the strongest desire to try to find Deidara, but quickly changed his mind, scared he would make things worse.

Tal came in to ask him if he wanted company and tried to get him to eat the food that was brought to him three times a day, but Itachi waved him off and only picked at the food he barely looked at. He was not pleased he had gotten his wish. He had wanted to be alone, away from Deidara, now the blond was taking the fall for something involving him and keeping him safe at the same time. He was so selfish.

He was sitting on his bed, staring at a news article he read the first line of several times already with no progress when the door opened without knocking and someone entered. He turned around in surprise because the servants – Itachi didn't want to consider them slaves – who brought his food always knocked first. Itachi gaped and began to rise when he saw who it was.

"Dei—"

"Sh," the blond snapped, holding up his hand. "Don't move Itachi, please. Not an inch."

Clamping his mouth shut, Itachi tried his best not to move as he watched the blond slowly make his way to the table to sit down. The blond was turned away from him, but what he could see of his face was shallow and pained. He had a slight limp in his step and his hair looked matted with something he feared was blood. The door was shut before Itachi thought to look at who was there and the sound of the lock turning caused a chill up his spine.

Swallowing, Itachi slowly closed his computer and slid off the bed. Deidara made a sharp noise and shook his head frantically, but Itachi didn't listen and kept moving closer to him. "Itachi stop," the blond whispered fiercely. "I haven't fed since we got here, they locked us in here to torment me more, un. I could drain you by accident, please stop moving."

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked softly. "What'd they do to you?"

"Don't worry about it," Deidara grunted. "Please go back to the bed, or lock yourself in your bathroom. Please. Now."

Itachi glanced over at the bathroom, thinking that the bathroom door wouldn't offer much protection from the strength of a vampire. "I'm sorry," he said, not listening to him and moving closer. "It's my fault, you shouldn't have—"

He didn't get to finish as Deidara moved faster than he could react, slamming into him and nearly threw him onto the bed. It felt as though he had run into a wall and the wind wouldn't come back to him because Deidara was sitting on his chest with his hands crushing down on his shoulders. It hurt, but he tried to ignore it. Deidara looked terrible, healing but terrible. It was blood in his hair and on his clothes. His fangs were sharp and starving for a bite though the blond seemed to be resisting taking a breath.

"I said don't move, un," the blond cringed, closing his eyes so he wouldn't even have to look at him. "It's not your fault. It isn't. I just don't want to hurt you and I will, un."

"I missed you," Itachi said quietly, the phrase startling the blond out of his resistance. "I'm sorry about what I said before. I know you say it's not my fault, but I think it is… somehow. I'm sorry they hurt you instead of me. I'm sorry."

Deidara closed his mouth, staring down at him and swallowing forcibly. "I missed you too, Itachi," he said quietly.

"It's okay," Itachi insisted. "I know you won't hurt me." The blond looked doubtful, turning his head away when Itachi lifted his arm for him and curled up with his head on Itachi's chest. "What are you doing?" the brunette asked after a moment.

"Just listening to your heart beat," Deidara whispered. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Itachi said quietly. Reaching up he placed his hand on Deidara's head. "Please eat, just a little," he murmured. "Just… please, you look terrible."

"You don't exactly look ready for prom yourself," Deidara grumbled. "You haven't been eating. I can feel your bones… Are you sure? It won't be pleasant, my venom is low, so it will hurt you, un…" Itachi held his arm out for him again stubbornly and looked away as Deidara took it and pierced his skin. It did hurt, like two big needles jabbed into his arm. Normally when Deidara bit him, there was just a sharp pinch before the venom spread through his body to feel good. This was just skin tearing pain that made him want to wrench his arm away, but he set his jaw and didn't make a noise while Deidara drank down his blood. He drank longer than he had before, but finally licked his throbbing arm clean and set his arm down and backed away from Itachi to the corner of the bed with precise determination. A Lesser vampire would have drained him dry. Sasori had said something like that, but Itachi never really saw how hard it was not to drain him.

"Why are you so weak?" Deidara commented, half turned away from him from where he leaned against the bed post. "What happened? Why didn't you eat?"

Itachi rubbed his arm absentmindedly, noting Deidara watching him from the corner of his eye, feeling slightly dizzy so he didn't sit up. "I just wasn't hungry, I don't trust them."

"They were to treat you like an honored guest, as any Human Servant should be, un," Deidara stated. "They wouldn't hurt you." Itachi tried to keep his face neutral, but Deidara noticed and blinked a few times, his eyes returning to their usual sharpness. He turned to face Itachi, but Itachi looked away. "What happened?" Deidara demanded, his voice stronger now as the blood slipped through him.

"Nothing happened," Itachi said, moving to crawl away, but the blond was already on top of him again, much more gently this time, and unbuttoning his shirt so he could trace his fingers and eyes over his torso and arms. Itachi's hands tried to grab Deidara's as they reached for his pants, but the blond gently batted them away, sliding his pants off to slide his fingers around his boxers. He started to tell him to stop – he wasn't hurt there, but the blonds searching eyes found the healing scab on his thigh. Itachi bit his lip and tried to think of something to say as Deidara's angry eyes rose to look at him.

"Who did this?"

"It's no—"

"Who!"

"I did," he replied.

"Why?" Deidara's voice was furious and cold, but his fingers traced the remains of the cut gently.

"They told me—"

"Who's 'they'?"

"I don't know."

"Humans? Vampires?" Itachi could only nod at the latter, the anger in Deidara's voice suddenly terrifying even though he could tell he wasn't angry at him.

The vampire got up off the bed and stormed over to the door and, despite the heaviness of it and its lock, smashed it open as though it were made of plywood, the knob hit the wall and stayed imbedded there. The vampires on guard yelled something at him, but Deidara grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head into the stone wall with a sickening sound before marching out of sight. Itachi took a shaky breath and pulled his pants back on and hurried after the blond buttoning his shirt back up again, cringing slightly as he did so. His leg still throbbed a little when it rubbed against his clothes. When they got to the main hall again, the people standing around nearly threw themselves against the wall to get out of Deidara's way, clearing a path for the two of them. Even Itachi could feel something terrifying and powerful rolling off the small boy despite how weak he seemed. Deidara nearly broke the door down of the Court hall as he smashed through it, not sarcastically and obnoxious, but angry. The vampires inside sensed the power coming off of the blond and scrambled to get to the borders of the room, ready to defend themselves. Even the five strongest vampires seemed to cower before him.

"Deidara," one of the woman said, paling a little. "I wouldn't have expected to see you so—"

"Someone has fed from my Human Servant," Deidara snarled in a deadly voice.

The room fell silent, the weight of it swelling painfully as Itachi stood staring at downcast at Deidara's back. A quick glance had shown him the vampires looking at them with strange looks of fear, repulsion, and jealousy mixed together on their faces. What each meant, he had no idea, but the lie he had been told while hounded was too terrible to be considered a joke. He didn't see the ones that had cornered him while he had been exploring the underground passages, but he had a feeling that when Deidara got his hands on them, they would be dead.

"This is a serious offense to—" one of the five commented quietly, but Deidara interrupted.

"I want their heads, un."

"We will find the culprits. They will be dealt with accordingly."

"I want their heads," Deidara repeated coldly. "Tonight. Or I will burn this city to the ground." The atmosphere sharpened again, the fear rising above the other emotions. Itachi could tell just by that how strong they considered Deidara. Why he had had to come to the court for them to deal with the blond – to keep the blond in check. He was stronger than any of them and good on his word. He watched Deidara turn on his heel and storm out of the room, pulling him along with a gentle, but firm grip as he returned them to their room and removed Itachi's pants once more. His fingers touched the cut again, tracing it gently, but Itachi could see the tightness of his shoulders, the anger still boiling in him.

"They didn't bite you," Deidara finally comment in a voice that told of forced calm. "You did it? With a knife?"

Itachi nodded silently, fingers digging into the fabric of the bedding feeling stupid. Deidara muttered about how deep it was, then began looking for other marks, but there weren't any. He lifted his blue eyes up to him with a question on his face that Itachi answered while staring at the wall. "They said it was payment for staying," he murmured, feeling his face flushing with shame. "That it'd be better for you if I let them."

The blond's growl told him that it was stupid, but the brunette also wished that Deidara would explain these rules to him before it got him into trouble. To distract himself, Itachi reached out and brushed Deidara's hair from his shoulder revealing an evil looking blemish that was slowly healing. Bite marks and torn skin where his shoulder had once been smooth. Sliding his fingers under the fabric of his shirt, he started to pull it forward to look, but Deidara gently moved his hand away.

"I'm alright, it's healing," he assured him, resting his chin on Itachi's knee. "You're not alright… this is scarring, un. I don't like it…"

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Deidara grumbled, climbing up onto the bed and snuggled up against Itachi's back. "I can heal it perfect if you want. Just a bit of my blood will make it go away, un."

The thought of drinking blood was still not a pleasant one, so far he hadn't been awake when Deidara had given him blood, but he thought of what Deidara had done for him – lying to keep him safe from the other vampires. He trusted Deidara would not let something hurt him. Swallowing, he turned to look at Deidara, making sure he was faced away from the door in case there was someone listening. "I'm not your Human Servant," he whispered. "You lied to keep me safe, didn't you?"

"I did," Deidara replied, just as quietly.

"What exactly is a Human Servant? What's it like?"

"I don't know, you'd have to ask Tal, un."

"I can't… he'd figure it out…"

Deidara made a noise of agreement and pressed his forehead against Itachi's shoulder. "People say it's like you've completed yourself. Like you've found your soulmate. I've heard people describe it as becoming the same person, just in two different bodies. You understand things about the other, you can always find them, some can hear their thoughts… Like how Masters and Made can if they want."

"Tal thought I could call Sasori if I thought you were hurt," Itachi told him.

"Hm. You might be able to, un. But…" he cringed a little. "Sasori is complicated. He doesn't let me into his mind at all. It feels like I'm looking at him through an opaque fence, but I guess… Maybe? If he was looking for me, you'd be able to call him, un." Deidara sounded lost in thought. He shifted against him then held his arm out where two deep tears had been made with thick, deep red blood read to slide down his pale skin. "It won't hurt you, un. It won't turn you, just make your skin heal faster… and help you live longer, un."

Swallowing nervously, Itachi took his hand and awkwardly wrapped his lips around the flesh of his arm. The taste of the blood on his tongue was thick and metallic, but strangely sweet. He sucked gently, his awkwardness growing and swallowed the thin stream of blood. A peculiar feeling of warmth began to grow in his stomach and spread through his body. Warmth, comfort, safe. He felt his worries drift away in the safety he felt. He felt a great weight lift from his shoulders and felt younger, stronger. And then it hit him. A tingle in the back of his mind, a mix of feeling. Affection, tender care, fascination, and desire. He could feel things, see things. His own face came to his mind, thin and nervous, just moments ago. He worried about his ability to settle in at home and whether or not he was happy. Worry that wasn't his own filled him and he realized that he was feeling Deidara's feelings. The affection and warmth was what Deidara felt towards himself.

Then he felt something else. A craving, a painful, aching throb of starvation. A need for substance and knowledge that it wouldn't come. And pain. So much pain. A memory of pain. Of punishment.

Deidara yanked his hand away, covering the bite with his hand as if it would block the memory it gave. Itachi turned to look at him and saw the blond with his shoulders hunched and a strained expression. When words finally came to him, they were quiet and barely audible. "I'm sorry… I didn't want you to see that, un." He glanced up at him and reached out to wipe a smudge of blood from his chin.

"You're not okay," Itachi said softly. "I didn't think you could hurt a vampire… you're so strong."

"The strongest," Deidara boasted. "They couldn't give me anything I couldn't take, un!" He felt the blond smirking against his shoulder as he slid his arms back around Itachi's torso, the bite mark already closed. A glance at his own leg showed Itachi the scar disappearing, fading into new smooth skin. He ran his tongue over his lips as Deidara gave him an affectionate, but gently squeeze. "I'm alright, un. I promise."

They were interrupted by a knock and the opening of the door. Itachi jerked the blankets over his exposed lower half as a woman walked in with a tray in her hands. She smiled at them, but wouldn't raise her eyes from the floor as she walked to the table and set it down. "Sorry for the interruption," she murmured in a soft voice, giving them a small bow before backing out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you about how other vampires treat their humans sometimes," Deidara murmured behind him. "Not all vampires think they're superior like these, but…"

"What did she bring?" Itachi asked as the blond got up and went over to examine the tray. He licked his lips again, searching for any remaining blood left behind. Now that he tried it, it wasn't so bad.

"Dinner for you," Deidara told him, settling the plates down on the table and removing their covers. "Raviolis, pasta salad, lamb stew and … watermelon ice… thing. And blood for me, un. As an apology." He sat down on one of the chairs, tucking his feet under his legs and picking up the dark bottle that looked like a wine bottle. He uncorked it, but didn't pour it into the wine glass provided and instead settled back to drink it like a baby drinking from its bottle.

Itachi pulled his pants back up then joined him, sitting in the other chair and began nibbling on each item. He ate the watermelon ice first, deciding it was an alright day to eat dessert first. It was shaped like silken tofu desserts in Japan, but chilled and had nuts and chocolate on top. It was all very good, but dry in his mouth. He wasn't sure whether it was because of his distaste for the vampires here who provided it or the blood.

"When are we leaving?" Itachi asked.

Deidara glanced over at him, then sat up a bit straighter. "How about tomorrow night? I'm getting sick of this place, how about you?"

"I hate it," he replied quietly. "All the vampires here are awful. I like the city, but knowing these vampires are here kind of ruins it for me… I don't know if I like vampires much… Except you. You're growing on me."

Deidara giggled and flopped sideways on the chair with his legs dangling over the edge. "That's cause I'm awesome," he informed him. He began drinking from the bottle again, before glancing back at him. "Tal explained what happened? Why we had to come here?"

Now the food really didn't look appetizing. He pushed the plates away. "Yes… something about that Hunter who shot us," he said, looking at the table.

"Why would they threaten war over something like that, un?" the blond mused aloud, tipping the bottle back to finish it. With a flick of his wrist, the bottle sailed across the room and shattered over the wall. "Something's not right…"

Itachi watched him think, picking up his fork again to poke at the remaining food without eating it. He felt his lips trying to tug into a smile without really knowing why. The taste of the blood was gone from his tongue, but the feelings lingered still. He grabbed at them, trying to hang on to them. He had never felt wanted by someone. Itachi was certain he wouldn't feel like just Deidara's portable meal again, not after getting a taste of his blood. The affection he felt for him, the desire to be close to him and to keep himself, the anger he felt because someone had hurt him. The other feelings, the pain and blurred memories of the last month, he tried to ignore. Itachi wasn't good with expressing things with words, receiving or giving them. Deidara simply stating that he wasn't just food hadn't been enough. He felt it. Really, really felt it.

"Itachi?" Startled, he sat up and brought his attention back to Deidara who was looking at him curiously. "What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing," Itachi said, feeling his face heat up as he tried to compose it. "I wasn't. Sor— What were you saying?"

The blond gave him a mischievous grin as he repeated, "something seems suspicious, un. The way the Hunter reacted."

Itachi thought for a moment, then frowned. "Do you think I'm a Shadow Hunter?"

Deidara blinked and stared at him. The thought seemed to not have crossed his mind. Frowning, he sat back in his chair and looked him over again. He chewed on his lip, though not hard enough to break skin then gave a shake of his head. "No," he finally replied. "It wouldn't make much sense. Shadow Hunters keep close to one another, almost like werewolves do, and you were alone, un… It just wouldn't make sense. And you don't smell like a Shadow Hunter, and Shadow Hunters have a very… distinct smell. They smell like magic, un. You don't smell like magic at all, you smell like a human. A Hunter kid all alone with no protection… it's like leaving a case of money out on the street…" he trailed off muttering to himself under his breath.

"But he knew my name, remember?" Itachi prompted. "My full name. Why would someone randomly know who I was?"

"I don't know," Deidara replied, making an unhappy face and swinging his feet.

"Before you said Sasori might know…Why don't we ask him?" Itachi suggested.

"No, no, no, that's a terrible idea, un," the blond said, shaking his head with wide eyes. "You don't understand how dangerous that is, un. Asking Sasori for help is like asking a fairy for help… or really any paranormal creature. I have a lot to teach you," he groaned, but it was more at himself than Itachi. "Don't ask Sasori for help unless you have absolutely no other choice."

Itachi gave a nod of understanding. "Then we'll have to do research on our own," he replied looking away. Of course he still had a lot to learn. He should make assumptions when he didn't know much. He'd only known about this world for a handful of months.

"Yes," Deidara nodded. "I know you didn't ask me to, but I'm sorry it's taking me so long to find out what happened to your family."

His eyes dropped to the table between them at the pasta that was cold and the salad soggy looking. "I know you're busy," he told him, his mind wandering to a dark place he tried to ignore. "I haven't," he swallowed thickly, trying to distract himself. "I haven't said this officially, but… I want to stay with you."

The blond made a squealing noise of glee that didn't sound like something any vampire would degrade themselves to make and leapt across the table, knocking the dishes aside and plopping down on his lap and threw himself into his arms. "Of course you do, un! As if I'd let you get away," he preened, rubbing his cheek against Itachi who chuckled quietly at the childish actions. He gave the blond's shoulder a light pat as his legs swung over the arm of his chair. "You should eat some more, un."

"I can't," Itachi said quietly. "It tastes like dirt. Can we go home as soon as possible?"

"Yes," Deidara said softly, giving gentle tweaks of Itachi's hair. His head laid down on Itachi's shoulder, curled up contentedly in his lap. "I seem to have a bad habit of taking you to dangerous places, un."

"It's alright," Itachi said, finding a place on the wall to stare at. Cuddling still felt uncomfortable. "You keep me safe."

"I intend to," Deidara said, clutching him close as the door opened. This time, it felt from its hinges from the abuse it had received that day. The blond tensed in his lap and swiveled into a position that would allow him to move easily. "What?" he demanded.

"We bring you gifts," a female's voice spoke. Itachi recognized it as one of the court's leaders. "As you requested."

Itachi cringed and closed his eyes, willing his mind to stop imagining what was going on at the door.

"You're sure it's them?" Deidara growled.

"Yes," she replied. "But your Human Servant can confirm their faces."

"I don't want to see them," he said as quietly as he could.

Deidara's fingers brushed the back of his hand gently. "I'd rather you just burn them. I have no use for them now that I can't tear them to pieces. Itachi and I are leaving on the first flight out of Italy, un. This experience wasn't as enlightening as we had expected, un."

"So soon?" she crooned back. "Of course we'll burn them. Feeding from a Human Servant is a high offense."

Deidara growled quietly, his hand sliding down to touch Itachi's leg where the scar had been. Itachi flushed deeply and looked up at the ceiling, trying not to think about where it was. He didn't want to look back, but he felt the heated stare going on between the vampires. When it was over, the room seemed lighter and Deidara settled back onto his lap.

"Good bye, dear Deidara," the vampire said. "Good bye, Itachi. I hope that our next meeting will be more pleasant."


	11. The Book of Souls

There were vampires around him, but he wasn't afraid. He could almost feel their curiosity as they stole glances at him throughout the meeting, though they were pretending to keep their attention on the youthful blond as they debated politics. They had to keep up the lie that Deidara had told to avoid treachery, but Itachi was quite happy to be included in the Master of the City's council. He listened closely, feeling comfortable in the room next to Deidara, taking notes.

The two of them had arrived back in Germany only a few days before. It was still early in the evening when they had arrived back in the castle and as they made their way from the car to the castle, he had been flattened to the ground by a huge grey wolf who hopped around him, licking his face happily until a few other wolves, nearly twice its size, hurried up yelping in a chiding sort of way. The grey wolf wagged its tail and bounded off.

"Guess Rose missed you," Deidara had whispered with a grin.

Itachi had gone to visit her in her room first thing in the morning, bringing her the presents he had brought for her – Italian candy and cookies, art paper for water colors and a few fashion magazines. She was thrilled about them and had him sit at her small table and made him a cup of tea and they tried the sweets together while he told her all about his trip – though he avoided nearly all of what had happened and focused on the sightseeing and showing her the pictures he had taken.

"Itachi?" Rose began after they had sat in silence for a little while doing their school work at her little table. "What's a Human Servant?"

Itachi looked up at her curiously where he had been copying down notes from his history book. She was looking at him with her green eyes wide and her head tilted to the side, like a dog listening for something far off… a dog… a wolf. "It's a human who has a special connection with a vampire," he explained to her. "Where did you hear about them?"

"People have been talking since you went to Rome," she said quietly, as though she were worried someone was listening at the door. "I can hear them, even though they whisper." She gave her ear a little tug. "They don't talk around me, but I can hear them when I'm in the hallway."

"Who?"

"Sam… and … and Grey and Kit mostly," she said a little regretfully. She then sat up straighter in the manner that children do to appear more adultlike, nose turned up disdainfully. "I think they're jealous and being stupid! Why is it called 'Human Servant' anyway? I don't want to be someone's servant."

"I don't know, Rose, that's just what vampires call it," Itachi said quietly. "I don't want them to be jealous of me… it's not that big of a deal…"

"If it is something important, I think you're better suited for it anyway," she said giving her hair a flip importantly. "Because you don't let Deidara run all over you like they do." She gave a little giggle. "They're just being silly. Don't worry about them!"

She hadn't meant to worry him, but it still made him feel uncomfortable. The other humans were still friendly to his face, hiding their jealousy, but he could sense some animosity from them still. He was new, why was he getting this special treatment? He didn't think any of them knew what a Human Servant was any more than he did, but he had to play the part. One of the things he now had to do was join the blond at his meetings and take notes because Deidara hated doing so. It made him happy to have a job for the blond, even though he had had to remember many different rules and laws that were, in part, common knowledge among paranormal creatures; on top of that, he had to do it all in German which was intense practice for him. Luckily, Deidara was able to explain things to him later even though he gave the appearance of not listening well.

The vampires on Deidara's council were polite to him, though most didn't speak to him. They all seemed older than Deidara, though he wasn't sure if they were older when they were changed or lived as vampires longer than Deidara. Sitting around the table, it looked as though Deidara were a school boy getting scolded by the school's administration rather than consulting business transactions. He imagined none of them were too pleased to be working under someone who had the appearance of a teenager, but then he remembered Deidara's anger in Rome. Not even the council had challenged something like that.

That night they were discussing passage of other non-human travelers who wanted to pass through the city either as tourists, while they were passing through. One of the vampires wanted to tax them higher, charge them payment to bring in more money. The tax would apply in addition to other fees to any paranormal creature that wanted to move into the city until they established loyalties with Deidara. This would bring in more profit to the city, and also minimize situations if the visitors couldn't control themselves. There were six vampires in the room with them, Deidara was sitting at the head of the table, slouched sideways in his chair. To his right were a man and two women; opposite them was another woman and two men. Itachi was sitting upright in a chair next to Deidara with a notebook in front of him, jotting things down that sounded important or he didn't understand.

Listening to the discussion, Itachi frowned over his notes. As the man sitting diagonally across him finished his argument, Itachi drew breath to counter what he had said, but quickly snapped his mouth closed and tried to become invisible. He had become so comfortable, he almost joined in as though this was a classroom and he was welcome to speak up. He hoped no one would notice, but all seven pairs of eyes turned to look at him, the vampires missing nothing.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but Deidara nudged him with his elbow, indicating he wanted to hear what he had to say. Swallowing thickly, he glanced up at the waiting vampires and spoke. "I… I don't think raising the taxation and fees are a good idea."

"Why is that?" one of the women asked, though her tone was curious not challenging. Itachi recognized her as the first vampire who had snapped at Rose when he had first arrived. She seemed formidable, a cross school teacher, but now she seemed more intrigued than malicious towards him.

"Well," he started, digging the tip of his pen into the paper before him. He glanced at Deidara who was looking up at him patiently and took a deep breath. "The city itself already pays taxes to the City Master, right?" There were a few small nods around the table. "If visitors who put money into the economy are being taxed more to enter, less people will come in like you said, but it will put a strain on the businesses who thrive on visitors. I think it would cause more of a financial problem in the long run. And Deidara is only in charge of the vampires here… if he tries to take control over other paranormal creatures wouldn't there be a revolt? And… if it's a matter of safety, that's for the city's residents, the vampire ones, who is in charge of that. Wanting to cut down for that reason just sounds lazy and I don't think it qualifies as an argument." It was the longest speech he'd given in German and he felt proud, but also a little uncertain as the man narrowed his eyes at him, but Deidara burst out laughing.

"He's seen through you," a woman said to her neighbor, chuckling as the others joined in.

"That's not the point," the vampires growled at Itachi. "What would you understand ab—"

"He understands just fine," Deidara purred around his laughter that was dying into a snicker. "And I agree with him."

"OF course, you do," the vampire muttered. "You'd agree with anything he—"

"I agree with him because he's right," Deidara said, not unkindly but in a matter-of-fact tone. "Your argument would mean that you expect me to take responsibility for all the Non-humans in the city and Itachi is right, it would be a disaster, un."

"You already rule over the dogs," the man across the taxation vampire.

Deidara's glare sharpened. "Don't insult the wolves like that," he growled. "I don't rule over the wolves. Our relationship is good faith."

"What good is good faith," the vampire grumbled.

The blond gave the table a good kick that caused the table to jab into the vampire's chest. "You'd be surprised how helpful werewolves and witches are," he glowered. "We don't take advantage of other creatures here. I'm taking your suggestion off the table. Anything else?"

"Is anyone sending their humans into the world this autumn?" the blond woman at the other end of the table asked. Itachi listened curiously as the vampires began listing names of the humans who would be staying with them and where the others would be going. He quickly jotted them down, trying to organize them by which vampire they belonged to because he hadn't yet learned the names of any of the other vampires' humans. There were a few who were going to travel for a vacation, some going to college, but a number were staying in the castle with their vampires.

"Jack is going to France to study," Deidara said when it was his turn. "Kit is staying and so is Wes, but the others haven't decided yet, un."

"And your Human Servant?" the formidable black-haired woman asked, smiling at Itachi.

Deidara tilted his head back to look at him, fingers twisting the bangs that fell from the loose pony tail. It was a curious look, asking him if he wanted to leave or stay. He had a choice? Was he allowed to go out? "I'd like to stay with Deidara for now," he answered quietly.

"I look forward to seeing you around the city then, and hope you enjoy the seasons changing," she said, her smiling growing friendlier. "I think that is all for tonight."

Itachi folded his notebook up and settled back in his chair as the vampires stood, nodding their heads to the two of them before leaving. He wondered if they had ill thoughts towards him behind their politeness or if they were alright with him being among them. Maybe they were just indifferent. He couldn't tell and it made him nervous because he didn't know how he was supposed to act in this fake role of his. He stared down at his notebook, thumb rubbing over the soft skin cover that made it look ancient, but it was newly purchased for him by Deidara when he asked if he had wanted to join him in meetings. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Deidara looking at him and turned to see him peering at him from over the arm of his chair, body twisted in an awkward position. His eyes were dancing in his head and he wasn't even trying to hide his face splitting grin.

"Yes, I want to stay," Itachi sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He felt, rather than saw Deidara inch closer, sliding like a cat onto his chair with his arms wrapped around Itachi's midriff. "Is everyone gone?"

Deidara climbed up to rest his chin gently on his shoulder, silent for a moment or two then nodded. "Yes, they're gone," he said, his fingers gently petting his chest in a way that barely bothered him anymore. "What's wrong?"

"What are you going to do if they find out I'm not your Human Servant?" he asked in a quiet voice. The blond hummed quietly and slid his fingers under his shirt, not doing anything improper, just feeling the warmth of his skin; he hadn't thought of anything yet. Itachi's lip slid between his teeth to chew, the small pain bringing a clear thought to his uncertainty. "Wouldn't it be safer for you to just make me your Human Servant for real?"

The blond sat up and stared at him, shifting to the floor so he could rest his chin on his knee. There were a million things on Deidara's face; Itachi couldn't shift through them to read a single one. Finally, the blond spread his fingers delicately over Itachi's knees. "That is a very… heavy thing to propose, un," he said, keeping his eyes on his hands. "It can't be undone. You could die becoming one, un… I don't want you hindered because you're worried about vampires rising against me." He gave Itachi a small smile and stood up, offering his hand to Itachi. "I don't want you to be unhappy. Let's get you a snack before the sun comes up, then I'll put you to bed."

He watched Itachi give a little sigh before taking his hand and standing. Deidara blinked and stared down at their hands as his human began walking towards the door and he hurriedly followed, trying to suppress the happy grin that wanted to explode all over his face. Itachi had never taken his hand before. Sam and Grey were in the kitchen, separately making their own food. They both looked up and greeted them before returning to their meals. Itachi let go of his hand and went into the fridge to pull out leftovers from his earlier dinner while Deidara heated blood for himself.

"How did the meeting go?" Sam asked, stirring her bowl of food.

"Itachi told them off," Deidara said, grinning around his cup. He glanced at Itachi as the brunette choke a little as he tried to swallow and protest at the same time. "Some of them thought I should tax all non-human visitors and Itachi set them straight, un."

"It just didn't seem logical," Itachi muttered, turning his back to them with his ears a little pink to eat the remainder of his sandwich.

"It doesn't," Grey said with a smile, sitting down at the kitchen table. "It's good that you're confident enough to speak up now. You were really shy when you first came here."

Itachi's face turned a little pinker and he seemed to be trying to turn invisible, but didn't reply. "Deidara," Sam said, munching on her salad. "Kit asked me to tell you she wanted to see you. She seemed pretty insistent."

He looked over at Itachi who glanced back at him with a reassuring nod. "I can go to bed myself," Itachi told him.

"Alright," Deidara sighed, giving him a gentle poke in the back as he turned to leave. "Good night, you three."

He wasn't an idiot. He could smell the discomfort in the house. The animosity. The restlessness. He knew what Kit wanted to talk about because he could smell her emotions even though she was so good at hiding them on the outside. He listened to the distant voices, the hum of the modern electricity. Some of the vampires scorned the accommodations having lived in a time before them, but he was intrigued by the evolution of society. He stopped in front of Kit's room, closing his eyes to listen through the wooden door. Kit was someone he could always find, having spent decades with her. He had never had a human as long as he had had Kit. He still remembered when he found her, living on the streets and dressed as a boy in Finland. Her hair a reddish blond and her eyes pale as their ability to see deteriorated. A girl going blind would have a difficult time in her world, but a boy could still do work that didn't involve selling her body. He could smell through her disguise, a woman's scent even though her appearance was flawless. He had been hungry, and he fed on her, ignoring the marks on her body that showed the struggle of her twenty years of life had brought her. She had begged for death, but he hadn't wanted to kill her. Instead he gave her his blood to help her recover from the feeding and when she awoke, it was with a startled cry. The blood from his arm and the venom of his fangs had renewed her sight. She could see and no longer begged for death, but requested that she go with him. She would do anything for him, she insisted, work as his servant, she was good with numbers.

Sixty years she had been with him. She had been 21 then, and barely looked thirty save for the whiteness of her hair. Her eyes remained perfect and she kept her promise, working for him and traveling with him until he had settled as the new City Master here ten years after they had met. He could feel her in the room, unhappily sitting on her sofa in front of the fireplace. She didn't look up from her book when he entered and shut the door behind himself. She turned her nose up and pulled her book closer to her face when he walked his fingers onto her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked, giving her a pout and climbed over the back of the sofa when she didn't say anything.

"How are you?" she asked, turning a page.

"Fine," he replied, settling down next to her. He waited, but she continued to read her novel. Octavia Butler. "Kit," he complained, pouting at her and poked her shoulder again. "What is it?"

"Have you forgotten about us?"

He tilted his head and leaned forward to put his face between her and her book, but her hand came out and gently pushed it out of her way. "What do you mean?" he asked, sliding closer and giving her shoulder an obnoxious poke. "Why would I forget you, un?"

"Just a fun new toy, huh?" she questioned, turning a page.

"Kit—"

She turned to him and he cut himself off as she deliberately put a bookmark in and set it down. "You made him your Human Servant," she accused him. "I heard from Belle and Markus. If you wanted a Human Servant, why didn't you choose one of us? We've been with you longer than him. We know more—he's a child. Vampires don't usually trust humans enough to make the exchange."

"Is that so," he mused as he leaned back against the sofa. "I wasn't aware."

"You're full of shit," Kit grumbled, sliding up to straddle his lap. "You don't trust us humans at all. You make us so desperate for you that we'd never hurt you. We're so weak there wouldn't be a point to a Human Servant. We're enough to let you connect with your humanity."

"Is that what I'm doing?" Deidara asked with a little chuckle, sliding his hands up her waist. "Trying to connect with my humanity?"

"No," she finally laughed, leaning down to kiss his neck. "You haven't got any left. I love you anyway," she assured him. "But does Itachi? He didn't like you at all when he first came here, I don't know why you brought him here."

"You've never disliked the humans I've brought home before, un," Deidara muttered. "I brought him because I like him, just as I liked you, just as I liked Sam and Grey."

"He doesn't appreciate what you are," she said, pushing his hair back off his face. "You still warm yourself up before you go see him, don't you? You don't have to with us. You don't have to pretend. We were better."

"I don't like you speaking ill of people in this house. You're all mine, Kit, un," Deidara sat up a bit, but she placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled her shirt off, pressing her warm living skin against his own cold one.

"I care about you," she said, pulling him closer. "I'm worried something will happen to you because of him. Am I so terrible for being worried about you?"

"I guess not, but be nice to Itachi, okay?" Deidara frowned a little as she kissed him.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked, tugging at his own shirt.

"Yeah I trust you," he said with a little smile as she kissed him again.

Despite the fact that he had told Deidara he would go to bed, Itachi didn't feel tired just yet. He had been staying up later and later these days, but he still made sure he was awake for his lessons with Grey and snack and play time with Rose. He still felt a little anxious about having spoken out during the meeting; Deidara seemed pleased, but it wasn't his place. If Deidara expected him to keep talking, he was going to have to study more to gain more knowledge of the topics they were covering. The library was where he went, grabbing books on politics and finding his favorite chair to sit by the large fireplace that was now lit nearly all the time for him.

He wasn't sure where to begin. He was only a high school student and never studied specific classes like university level. He had chosen a few about politics and a few about vampires, hoping to find something on Human Servants in them, maybe something that would give him some idea of what it was like to be one, what he was supposed to do as on. He wished he could ask Tal, but he was terrified he would say something wrong and give away the lie. How did one become one? What did it feel like? Could he change his mind? No, Deidara said no, he couldn't.

Staring down at the book without reading it, Itachi clutched the book tightly. The way Deidara had made him feel when he drank the blond's blood caused him to believe that he could survive being the blond's Human Servant for real. Maybe. What was a Human Servant? It sounded simple when Deidara had explained it, but if that were true the blond wouldn't have looked so serious. He just didn't understand how being a Human Servant was different than the other humans who lived and worked for the vampires. He enjoyed feeling wanted by Deidara and wanted to help him more, show his appreciation. Maybe Deidara didn't want a Human Servant, maybe he just didn't want _him_ as a human servant.

"Itachi."

Looking up, he stood and gave a nodding bow to the black-haired vampire at the door. "What can I do for you, ma'am?" he asked, a little nervous. None of the other vampires had ever sought him out before, or spoken to him without Deidara present.

"I just wanted to talk to you before you went to sleep," she said, taking a few steps into the library, but keeping some distance between them. He wondered if she could smell his worry.

"Talk to me?" he asked, closing his book and sitting when she gestured for him to do so. He made the same gesture for her.

Smiling, she sat down gracefully in the overstuffed chair opposite the fireplace from him. "I don't believe Deidara introduced the vampires in his home to you. I am Belle."

"He'd didn't," Itachi replied, shaking his head. "Nice to meet you… Frau Belle," he added because she seemed like the type of person who insisted on formalities.

"And you, Itachi," she said, smiling as she tilted her head to look at him. "Deidara doesn't trust other vampires around his humans – with good reason, I believe."

"He also doesn't really like formalities," Itachi admitted, a little apologetically.

She chuckled appreciatively, her imposing demeanor fading a little. "What are you reading?" she asked conversationally.

Instinctively glancing down at the book in his lap, he held it up to show her. "I was looking for information on vampires," he told her. "Even though Deidara doesn't mind, I don't think I should speak up in his – your meetings without having more information about what's being discussed."

"That's wise of you," Belle said with another smile. "But much of what we discuss is similar to what humans discuss. It is our job to make sure that peace remains within our city. There are many times when an outside voice is beneficial. Deidara is a … unique vampire because he is concerned for the non-vampires in the city as well."

"But he's not in charge of everyone in the city, right?" Itachi asked, leaning forward. "He hasn't explained to me what a Master of the City does."

With a nod, she folded her hands over her knees and somehow sat up straighter than she already was, holding the appearance of a teacher about to give a lecture. "'Master of the City' is the title given to a Master vampire who controls the vampires in their territory. It is their job to keep the vampires who live here in check, so they're not murdering or turning humans. You become a Master of the City by murdering the last one." Belle gave a wily grin, seeming not to care that Deidara had done so. "From what I've come to understand, this area had been Deidara's home when he was human. I believe he just wanted to stay here and, like his Maker, didn't want to follow another's rules. Anyway, the City Master only rules over the vampires, however, the Bürgermeister is—"

"Sorry," Itachi interrupted. "The what? I don't know that word." He reached for his dictionary and looked it up while she waited. 'Mayor' was the translation. "Oh, I see. The city's mayor?"

"Yes, his name is Hans and he is one of Deidara's humans," she said with another smile. "So, Deidara, in part, controls both the humans and vampires. However, most paranormal creatures do not like interacting with one another. Too much bad blood in our history, but there's always exceptions. Deidara has made very strong alliances with the local witch coven and werewolf pack, which has earned the respect of the Fae, though they have no interest in involving themselves with us. The Alpha of the pack that lives in the city was having problems with Shadow Hunters… they had killed all but one of their young pups."

"I heard… Rose is the only one left because they kill the pups before they turn," Itachi commented, listening intently.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "Deidara's property with this castle is very big. It overlaps with the werewolf pack's territory, but Deidara has purchased a magical barrier around the territory. Nothing that hasn't been invited can enter and killing on the lands would be a personal offense to Deidara. The wolves come here to change and hunt, and Rose is permitted to live here in safety until she is an adult. When the girl reaches maturity, she will continue to run with the pack outside of the property."

"Do the other wolves… live outside?" he asked, frowning a little.

"No, certainly not," Belle replied with a light laugh that wasn't mocking him. "When they are not wolves, they live as humans in the city with their own homes, families and jobs… they just come here to change and hunt."

"Oh, I see," he said, fiddling with the edge of his sleeve.

As he thought over what she had said, he felt her eyes on him, watching with a calculating expression. "Itachi," she finally began. When he looked up at her, she opened her mouth, then suddenly closed it. "Sorry, never mind, it wasn't important," she shook her head, but still gave him a long look. "If you're looking for certain kinds of information, that book on the northern third floor will help you," she told him, pointing up to the third floor wings. He could barely see up that high and rarely went up there, but somehow, he could tell which book she was pointing at, just visible from where he was sitting. "Good night, Itachi," she said rising, "I look forward to seeing you in future meetings. And, should you choose to learn a fourth language in the future, I would be delighted to instruct you in French."

Curiously, he watched her close the library door behind herself, wondering what she had been about to say. After a few moments of silence, he set the book down on the table and began climbing the stairs to the second level and then took the spiral staircase up to the alcove she had been pointing to. He had never been up here before, the books were in languages he didn't know or recognize and there was no label for what the books contained. The book that Belle had been pointing to was old and hand bound with thick leather reinforced with something heavy and hard. On the cover was English lettering branded into the thick leather along with a crest, but he didn't know the words. He stared at them for a moment long before he went back down the stairs to the desk by the window and took a sheet of paper to copy them. The windows were dark, it was one in the morning, but the fireplace created a reflection that made the stars outside invisible unless he pressed his face to them.

"Libro Animas," he sounded out quietly, frowning at them. He decided that it wasn't English, or German, but another language using similar text symbols. Carefully, he opened the front cover and stared with a disappointed sigh at the jumble of foreign words.

He pushed his hair off his forehead and glanced at the large clock ticking away. He didn't know how the book was supposed to help him if he couldn't read it and he didn't want to stay up all night translating it once he figured out what language it was in. Looking back down at the book, he jumped in shock. The letters were slowly beginning to break apart and crawl across the page, their shapes spreading and rearrange themselves into new words and a new language. Japanese.

"What the…" he murmured, rubbing his eyes and wondering if he was more tired than he felt. When the words were finished moving they were entirely in Japanese and readable to him.

"'Here contains _The Book of Souls_ , an historical account of the creatures Vampires and the so called 'Human Servant','" he read in a whisper. His heart suddenly jumped into his throat and he stared at the closed library door. How had she known he had been looking for books on Human Servants? Did she know they were lying? Would she blackmail them?

Breathe. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Jumping to conclusions was how he would get them into trouble. When his heart had settled, he opened his eyes and began to read what seemed like someone's diary.

 _Little is known of the exact science of the magic that allows a Vampire and Human to share their souls, however, it is known that the Union of a Vampire and Human is stronger than any other known union between Humans, Nonhumans, and Transhumans. It is rumored to be stronger than the mating bond between the Werebeasts. Each Union is unique to the participants and differs from that of a subordinate to a Vampire in that the Human shares a varying power with their Vampire. The bond lasts until one member dies, or is severed by blood magic._

 _In relation to the history of the Vampires on Earth, the Union is a relatively new discovery. The first known Human Servant was created when a Vampire fell in love with a Human. Rather than see the Human age and die or suffer the pains of vampirism, she formed a connection between their souls, binding them eternally as one entity in their separate bodies. The Human has not aged or changed since the Union began, indicating a new difference between subordinates and Vampires, for subordinates still age despite the consumption of vampire blood. Since that time, each pairing has different advantages and disadvantages to one another depending on the members of the Union._

Souls? Itachi scratched his chin softly, then began flipping through the pages, watching the letters rearrange themselves into spreads of information about Vampires and their Human Servants. In the past two hundred years, there had only been twenty-six Human Servants. Five of them were now dead. He looked at the names of the first two with a slight frown. He was finding as he learned other languages that Japanese characters were limiting in their design of foreign names. 'Ataru' and 'Kari' were probably not how the foreign names were pronounced.

The book's pages were thick and yellowed with age. As he looked through the pages, he wondered if he would be able to contact any of the other Human Servants. He flipped to the last page written, though the book had space for more, and began reading about the latest Human Servant created, a woman named Linda and Rachel. Linda, a human, had been made one against her will fifty years ago by her vampire who had been caring for her as she became terminally ill soon after coming into her vampire's service. The vampire, Rachel, couldn't accept that her new human was going to die and made her a Human Servant in an attempt to save her. The connection and the disease drove the human to insanity. Not wanting to read the details, Itachi skipped to the end of the page and saw that she had committed suicide by dousing herself in gasoline and lighting herself on fire. Rachel, in her Suntime death, could do nothing. She too was driven mad with despair, having felt both the pain her Human Servant had felt, as well as the pain of being torn from her in death. Smoldering in the sun, she had walked to the House of Angels and was not seen by another of her kind.

Itachi watched the last few letters rearranging themselves at the bottom of the page. _'But she too is now dead.'_ said the words.

He turned the next page and saw it was blank. So there were pros and cons to being a Human Servant, but what it was still didn't make complete sense. It was a connection of souls to a vampire. Belonging to someone wasn't something he was used to; caring and being cared for. Not since he was a child. He flipped back to the first Human Servant, reading about the love and care between the two of them. He wondered if he could ever meet the two of them. Magic was new to him, but knew this had been very strong and difficult magic to have done with no knowledge of it before. He wasn't one for romances, but he enjoyed reading the beginnings of their story which was the longest of the collections of stories. He wondered if someone could care for him that much. Since his parents had died, people looked at him as though they were waiting for him to snap, not really wanting to help him. Then Deidara came along…

His thought stopped abruptly by something moving on the empty page. Ink crawled across the center of the page and came to rest in the shape of new words.

 _'Will you be next on my pages, Itachi Uchiha?'_

Slamming the book shut, he stared at it wide eyed then hurriedly rushed up the stairs to put it away. What kind of book was this?! He didn't even bother to put away the other books before he left for his own bedroom. It had once seemed large and frighteningly unfamiliar, but he found comfort in the room now which was warm and more inviting with the comfy sofa by the fire and curtained bed. He changed into his pajamas and climbed up onto the huge old-fashioned bed and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. He was oddly cold, even though the heating pad at the bottom of his bed was warm. The book's words burned behind his lids when he closed his eyes. The book had written to him. What kind of book was that and why was it in Deidara's library?

His map was resting, folded with care, on the nightstand. He debated looking for Kit's room to ask Deidara, but decided against it. He didn't want to disturb them. He would ask Deidara later… or someone else. He had had enough of that for one night.


	12. Chloe Engel

"Jack?"

Itachi turned the corner, hurrying after the departing figure. The young man looked up from the cellphone screen he'd been reading intently and gave him a curious look. Catching up with him, Itachi held out the piece of paper he had been copying words down from the book. "Sorry to bother you… do you know what language this is?" he asked.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Jack reached out and took the sheet of paper. "Hm… looks like Latin to me," he replied, giving it back. "I'm pretty shit with languages, but I think the first word is 'book'. Why, what's up?"

"I found a strange book in the library," Itachi explained. "This was on the cover along with a …symbol," he added, unsure of the correct German word for emblem.

Jack was watching him with calculating distance he'd come to notice in many of his fellow humans eyes. He wondered if Jack was as jealous as Rose had made the others sound, but didn't want to ask. The expression softened suddenly and Jack gave him a grin. "Dei's got some weird books in his collection," he commented.

"Any… magic ones that translate themselves?" he asked.

"Eh?" The judgement was gone from his eyes in his confusion. "Translate themselves?"

He shifted his weight from one foot to another, knowing it would sound crazy and feeling stupid for it. "When I opened the book, it was written in this language, but then it began to change itself into Japanese."

He gave him a hard stare, lips quirked in a half smirk as he waited for Itachi to say he was joking, or maybe he was wondering if Itachi was sane or not. When it was clear he was neither joking nor going to take back what he said, Jack cleared his throat. "Well, that's weird… I've never heard of anything like that," he said with a shrug. "Sounds like magic. Kit might know, I think she knows Latin, too, maybe she can translate it for you."

"Do you know where she is?" Itachi asked, taking the paper back from him.

"She's probably getting ready to go into the city for work," Jack replied. "In the garage."

The garage was an area built into the ground partially under the castle leading out to the front courtyard and the into the main road. Itachi had never been down there; the cars he road in were always brought to the courtyard by the front door. Jack showed him the door before leaving him with a friendlier smile than the first one he had given. Down the stairs and into the wide garage, he saw there were a number of cars parked down here, but he quickly spotted Kit's tall figure walking smartly towards a navy blue one.

"Kit?" he called, extending his stride to catch up with her.

She paused, turning her pale eyes on him. She was dressed in a plain summer blouse and jeans, her heeled sandals clicking smartly on the concrete. "Hello, Itachi," she greeted with a smile, her white blond hair swung as she moved. "Is something wrong?"

He stopped in front of her and patted his clothes down to look less disheveled from rushing to catch her. "Sorry, I know you're going to work," he said. "I … I just wanted to ask you something, but if you're in a hurry…"

"Not at all," she said, setting her travel mug and purse on top of the roof of the car. She turned to him and smiled again, leaning on the car. "What's up?"

"I found a book in the library," Itachi began, pulling out the paper from his pocket and unfolding it. "It was in a language I didn't know, but as I looked at it, the words in the book translated itself to Japanese. Jack didn't know what it was and thought you might." He held out the paper for her, watching her take it and look at his handwriting.

"It's Latin," she said, tilting her head to one side. "It means 'Book of Souls'. You said the book translated itself for you?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but it really did," Itachi insisted.

"What did it translate to?"

"It was a book about people who have been made into Human Servants," he said, Rose's warning rising up again. "I was looking for information on ways I could be more use to Deidara and everyone else." He took the paper back when she handed it to him, watching her carefully for any irritation.

She touched her finger to her chin delicately and thought for a moment. "That's interesting," she replied, pursing her lips. "It does sound like magic to me. Maybe something to keep track of Human Servants. You should ask a Witch, they'd probably be able to tell you more. Or a Mage."

"I don't know any Witches or Mages."

"Well, you'd want to talk to a Witch, definitely," she told him. "Hey, are you busy today?" she asked suddenly.

"Me? No," he said in surprise. He didn't do anything but study when the sun was up.

"Why don't you come with me? I know a Witch; you can talk to her while I run errands at my office," she said, picking up her purse to sling over her shoulder.

"Am I allowed to leave?" he asked in shock. The thought of leaving the house without Deidara had never crossed his mind. Deidara still hadn't let him be alone since the Hunter and wouldn't let him go to dinner with the others either if Deidara couldn't go.

"Of course," she said, laughing. "You're not a prisoner, Itachi. But if you're unsure, why don't you ask Dei if you can go?" She looked at him expectantly and Itachi remembered what he'd been told about mental connections Human Servants had to their vampires.

"I don't know how to do that yet," he said, sheepishly. "I'm still learning… That's why I was reading that book…. But if you don't mind, I would like to get out," he added, hopefully.

"Not at all," she said brightly, gesturing to the other side of the car. "Get in."

"What are you going into the city for?" he asked after they had belted themselves in.

"Oh, I have an office in the city," she explained cheerfully as she turned the car on. "Sometimes it's hard for me to get work done when people are home… I can just tell when people are in the house. Having an office means no one can bother me, _plus_ if I have to have a meeting it's a less intimidating space than Castle Crazy-Deidara. Not all the vampires in the city have permission to come to the castle anyway. So if they're clients of mine, we meet there. And, the best part, is that there's a Starbucks right across the street."

"I guess Starbucks is difficult to get at home," Itachi said with a small grin.

"I need my fix," she said with a fake groan before she laughed again. Itachi decided he liked her laugh, and her accent was light and easy to listen to. "The office is also glamoured so normal humans don't get suspicious about how long I've been there. They don't question my age… or lack thereof."

"How old are you?" Itachi asked curiously, looking over at her.

"Itachi!" she scolded. "You should never ask a woman her age!" She laughed as she waved off his stammering apologies. "I'm just teasing you, it's okay. I'm just over eighty. I've been with Dei for sixty years now."

"E-eighty?" Itachi stared at her openly now. She didn't look much older than thirty.

"Yep," she grinned, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Deidara's blood makes me age slower."

Sitting back, Itachi stared ahead at the road, watching the countryside turn to a small suburb and then to city streets. Was the blood doing that to him? Would he stay the same as he was now? He looked at his reflection in the mirror curiously. He never really thought about his appearance before coming here. Deidara liked to tell him he was good looking – he suspected he liked seeing him become flustered – and he supposed girls used to come up to him a lot between classes in Japan, but he never had time to go out with anyone and most people lost interest very quickly. He didn't think his features were that attractive that people would marvel at how young and attractive he looked when he never aged. Kit on the other hand was very pretty he thought, and Sam was also very attractive… Him? He was plain and uninteresting and his hair was too long, but he never had time to cut it.

"Maybe it's because you're so logical…"

Kit's absentminded voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Sorry?" he asked, giving her a confused look.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I was just thinking out loud. You seem to keep rejecting Deidara as a vampire, so I've been kind of lost on why Deidara made you his Human Servant." She gave a casual shrug. "But I guess it's because you think so logically that you have difficulty giving into other creatures," she glanced over and gave his side a playful poke, "and other things found outside of the library."

He gave her a slightly bashful smile and leaned back in his seat. Maybe that was his problem and the reason Deidara would lose his patience with him so often – he thought too logically and couldn't change his view of the world. His brain got in the way too much, even if he didn't want it to. Perhaps he would try keeping an open mind.

"Here we are," Kit said as they finally pulled down a small street lined with local businesses. She parked in front of a white washed stone building with stain glass in the open windows and door. "Do you need me to go in with you?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine, thank you for asking," Itachi said with a smile.

She smiled. "My office is on the next street over, just take a left at the next stop sign," she said, pointing. "It's right across from the Starbucks."

"Okay," he said, looking back at the building. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he opened the door and stepped out, giving his pockets a quick pat to make sure his wallet and phone were both there.

"Itachi," Kit called before he could shut the door. "Don't be scared of her, okay? She's really nice."

"Thanks," he said again, unsure if he was feeling scared of this witch or just apprehensive about meeting someone knew. Or meeting a witch. He'd never met one. He watched her wave and pulled back out into traffic and take the turn she had indicated to him. Swallowing, he turned to face the building and took a deep breath before entering.

As he stepped through the open door, the bell hanging over the entrance tinkled gently. He stopped and looked up at it in surprise, wondering what had disturbed it since the door was already open. His pulse quickened a little as he glanced around the shop, wondering what a witch was like. From his limited knowledge of pop culture, he pictured either a frizzy haired woman with poor vision, or a black-haired woman with dark make up and tight clothes. The shop itself had a strange, but pleasant smell to it. There were shelves with rows of books, shelves with nick-nacks he couldn't identify, jars of dried herbs and honey like liquids, and shelves with selections of candles and spools of thread. Hanging from the ceiling were arrays of dying herbs and flowers, swinging gently from the light breeze coming through the windows that lightly rattled a few wind chimes hanging from the ceiling. He examined the one closest to him.

"People think they keep evil away," came a voice from the other side of the store. A white and grey cat made a soft chirping sound as it unwound itself from the patch of sunlight on the floor as a young woman stood from her stuffed chair to greet him. She fit neither of his limited depictions of witches. Her brown skin was a little lighter than Sam's, though her hair was of tighter curls, pulled into a casual bun at the nape of her neck though in a way that made it look as though she was just keeping it out of the way. Her eyes were hazel and she wore a few pearls in her ears. She was wearing a white blouse dress that both revealed and covered her muscular body. Itachi wondered if she was an athlete as well as a witch… or perhaps this wasn't the witch at all. Her smile was toothy and wide as she reached out to touch one of the other wind chimes to indicate what she was referring to. "They don't actually do that, that's just Human superstition, I just like the sound."

She took a step closer, but paused with a curious and cautious frown. "You smell of vampires… What can I do for you?"

Realizing she was indeed a witch, he straightened his shoulders a bit before speaking, not wanting to appear nervous. "I had a question about something magical, Kit said you might be able to help me."

"Oh, you're one of Deidara's?" she asked, her cautiousness disappearing at once and her full lips broke into a wide smile again. "My name is Chloe Engel. Please, come and sit." Itachi followed her back to the table and stuffed chairs she had been sitting in when he had entered. "Would you like some tea?"

"It's alrig—" he began, but she was already busying with a kettle in the small kitchenette behind her reading nook.

"You've got something heavy on your mind, don't you?" she said, reaching up to take a few jars from her cabinet. "I'll make you something relaxing." He watched her carefully selecting various amounts of dried things from the jars and placing them into a tea pot and pouring hot water inside. She brought it over with a mug on a little tray and set it down on the table. While they waited for the tea to seep, she urged him to tell her about the magical item. He told her everything about the book, save for the exact content.

"How interesting," she said slowly as she poured him his tea. "It wrote specifically to you?"

"Yes," he replied, taking his mug and taking a sip. He had never tasted tea like this, but it wasn't unpleasant. "It asked if I wanted to be included in the story."

"Did you answer?" she asked sharply.

"No, I just closed the book and put it away."

Chloe Engel sat back in her chair and thought to herself as Itachi sipped the tea. He wasn't sure how it was supposed to make him feel more relaxed, but he did sit back in his chair himself and watch her while trying not to appear to be doing so. "Magic is a strange thing," she began, her voice soft and gently, like someone who would work well with children. "My magic is natural," she drew her hands up as though gathering something invisible into the cup of her hands. "I was born into the Engel family, a very strong and old coven of Witches. Magic runs very strong though my… species," she said, clearly at a loss for a better word, "but almost all magic can be learned. The book doesn't sound like anything my magic could, or would do, and I'm not sure if any other Coven would have that type of magic. My guess is that it is Mage magic."

"What is a Mage?" Itachi asked curiously.

"Mages are Shadow Hunters," she said gravely. "They are trained in magic, but it's very different from mine and often runs against the Natural Order." She touched each of her finger tips to her thumbs as if she were feeling something on them. "Meister Deidara might have taken it from a Mage, so it might be best to ask him. If it were a regular book, it could just be a child's toy, meant to amuse someone young with how the letterings move, but perhaps it was made to write down someone else's story as a way of keeping track of them or control them."

"Magic can do that?" Itachi asked, slightly horrified.

"I told you, Mage magic runs against the Natural Order," she said gravely. Her hazel eyes looked at him a moment, then she leaned forward with her hand held out for his. "May I?" Curious, he set his mug down and gave her his hand, watching her examine it, first the top then the palm. Her hand rest atop his own with her long fingers touching his wrist. "Strange," she murmured to herself.

"What's strange?" he asked, trying to see what she was looking at on his hand.

"You've had a very difficult life," she said, then laughed at herself with a shake of her head. "That sound so Human of me, doesn't it? Humans think they can read your future by the lines on your palm," she told him, tracing some of his own, "but they can't. Some have Witch blood in their history and they can sense your aura perhaps, but they don't tell the future. But… in all seriousness, something happened to you. You saw something… and lost something important… a long time ago," she turned his hand back around and touched the thin skin over his knuckles. "What's strange is that I can barely see anything about you, there's… there's magic on you. You're being protected by a spell."

"A spell?" Itachi asked, confused. "Deidara said I don't smell like magic at all. I don't remember anyone casting a spell on me…"

She hummed thoughtfully to herself and sandwiched his hand between her own. "No, you don't smell like magic, but I sense the spell on you. It's … It's Mage magic, not a Witch's spell. It's possible you were too young to remember, or it is something to do with the spell itself. It's not malicious," she told him hurriedly, smiling. "What I feel from you, is that you are very loved," her fingers brushed the area of his hand he sometimes cut open for Deidara to drink from, even though there were no abrasions left behind. "You were fiercely loved by blood and are fiercely loved by friends. Make sure you care for them back."

"I will," he promised, though he wasn't sure why he did so. The white and grey cat jumped up on the table and rubbed its head against their hands. Breaking contact with her, he reached out and pet it. "You have a cat," he commented with a small smile.

"Some stereotypes are true," she chuckled. "I thought of getting an owl and naming it Hedwig, but decided that was just a bit too far." Itachi looked at her blankly, not understanding her joke, but she waved it off and stood. "Is there anything else I could do for you Itachi?" she asked.

"How do you know my name?" he asked in surprise, realizing unhappily that he had forgotten to introduce himself to her.

"You're with Meister Deidara and I've never seen you before," she said with a sweet smile. "Meister Deidara doesn't let just anyone through my barrier, so it's not hard to figure out who you are. When a vampire as strong as Meister Deidara gets a new human, people talk."

"Oh," he replied, not liking the idea of being talked about. What an uncomfortable feeling. "Do I need to pay you?" he asked a little bluntly, looking at her uncertain.

"Not for this," she said, her smile warming even more. "I'd be happy if you came to visit me against some time."

"Thank you for your help," he said, giving her a habitual bow.

"You're very welcome," she replied.

He paused at the door, then turned back to her. "Can I buy some of that tea?" he asked. She said absolutely and began to gather it for him, telling him how to brew it properly. She also gave him little candies and said to give them to Rose if her parents said it was alright – it will help her with her change, she explained.

As he walked down the streets with the bag in his hand, he looked down at the hand she had held. A protection spell… He thought about the times Deidara had tried to control him with his eyes and Sasori trying to hold him down. Was that part of the spell? And Chloe had made the barrier that kept Shadow Hunters from entering Deidara's territory and hurting Rose. He wondered if the candy would be good for her. Rose's mother had come in once when they were forced to take their snacks at her table due to a heavy rain and explained, when the girl had complained about her mouth hurting, that it was like teething for a second time as your body gets used to growing new teeth. Pausing in thought, he looked up and saw the Starbucks Kit had mentioned and, after thinking a moment, went inside. After a short conversation with the man at the counter, he ordered Kit's favorite drink – they knew her by name, and a pastry for himself and crossed the street to Kit's office. She was delighted by the surprise drink, but told him she had a few more things to do before she could take him home. He told her he'd wait outside for her and found a bench to sit on.

The pastry was light and tasty, though a bit too sweet this early in the day – even though it was nearly lunch time. He ate is as he watched people go by in cars, bikes, and on foot, thinking about the book and about what Chloe Engel had said. He pulled out his phone and searched for Deidara's number in his contacts. Itachi wasn't sure if he had his phone with him while he was in his Suntime death, but he wanted to ask while his mind was thinking on it. It only rang a few times before the blond's tired voice sounded through the speaker.

"Sorry to bother you," Itachi said, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"It's alright," Deidara assured him. There was a pause and his voice became sharper, "what's wrong? Why are you outside?"

Itachi had forgotten how good the blond's hearing was. He could probably hear the cars passing on the street and knew he wasn't on the grounds. "I'm in the city," he began, about to add that he had come with Kit, but Deidara cut him off demanding to know why and where in the city he was, how he got there and if he was with anyone.

"I'm here with Kit," he told him when the blond's demands had ceased. "I'm outside her office."

"Why?"

"I found something in the library," he explained. "Jack and Kit didn't know what it was, so Kit took me with her to work so I could talk to a woman named Chloe Engel."

"The Witch?" Deidara didn't sound pleased in the slightest about that.

"Am I not allowed to leave the grounds?" Itachi asked quietly with a sigh. Maybe he was partially a prisoner.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few moments. He suspected Deidara knew what he was thinking and choosing his words carefully. "It's not that. I'd rather know where you're going, un. I don't trust the Shadow Hunters to just let what happened go now. I don't want anything to happen to you when I can't help you. What did you find in the library that you couldn't come ask me, un?"

"It's not that," Itachi stammered. "You were with Kit when I found it, I didn't want to disturb you two and I didn't know where you were this morning. It was a book called 'The Book of Souls', Chloe said it sounded like Mage magic."

"…How the fuck did you find that book in the entire damn library?" Deidara asked, sounding thoroughly exasperated, but not angry. He gave a little sigh and the sound of sheets moving made him think Deidara was rolling over. "It is Mage magic. I stole it from a Shadow Hunter who was using it to track down vampires and their Human Servants to experiment on them to see if they could break the connection."

"Oh…" Itachi murmured in response. Chloe had been right then.

"What were you looking for when you found the book, un?" Deidara asked curiously.

"I was looking for books about Human Servants," Itachi answered, deciding not to tell him about what Frau Belle had said. He didn't think she meant it maliciously and didn't want to cause problems in the house.

"Oh."

Itachi stretched his back again and looked down at his hand. "Chloe said she felt something on me," he told Deidara. "She said it was a spell."

"A spell?" the more Deidara talked, the worse he felt about calling him. He sounded exhausted. Itachi hated how his voice sounded as though his throat was made of sandpaper. "No. She is wrong, un. Magic leaves residue, I would smell it."

"She sounded certain," Itachi replied. "She said it was Mage magic."

The silence on the other end of the line was longer than the last. If Itachi didn't know better, he might have suspected that the blond had fallen asleep, but he knew that Deidara couldn't sleep. His eyes wandered the streets, taking in the painted shops with flower pots in the windows. The second floors had the windows thrown open and curtains blowing gently in the breeze. He suspected this was part of an older Germany, one that got replaced by modernization and growing cities, but continued to thrive with its independent shops, small market places and very old creatures. From what he could see, most people seemed to live above their shops, or perhaps rented them out. It was strange to think of these places compared to where he had grown up. Tokyo was very tall; the rest of the world was spread further out.

"Sorry, I lost my train of thought," Deidara's voice cut him out of his day dreaming. "I'll talk to you when you get home. Have fun with Kit."

"I will," Itachi assured him, then stopped and took a deep breath. "Deidara?"

"Hm?"

"Do you…" no that wasn't right. "Why don't you want a Human Servant?"

"It's not that," Deidara said softly. "Vampires don't really think about whether or not they want one. It's just…."

"Is it me?"

"No, it's not that. I said before, I—"

"I think I'd be okay as your Human Servant," Itachi said firmly.

"Huh?"

"I want to do it… if you want to."

The silence on the other end seemed stunned. Deidara liked to talk. It was rare that he was silent so many times. Maybe Itachi had discovered his hidden talent. "I'd rather talk to you in person," the blond told him softly. "I'll come see you tonight. Bye."

Deidara reached out and touched the End Call button. Using the last of his energy, he rolled onto his stomach and pulled the sheet over his head. It felt as though his bones were shattering from the movement, his muscles dead under his skin. He was not good at planning ahead. Three hundred years and he was still terrible at planning ahead. He could have argued his way out of it, schemed his way out of it. This wasn't something that the Vampire Court was going to forget. Not in a few years. Not in a few centuries. What Itachi said made him happy, but Deidara wasn't sure Itachi really understood what it meant. No one really knew what it meant. But there was something far more important to think about.

He never said Itachi couldn't leave the mansion, but it gave him a strong sense of panic knowing he couldn't protect him. Knowing he wasn't as safe as he could be. What Itachi had said to him in Rome hung onto him like an angry shadow. He wouldn't forget, ever, what it felt like to be caged, to be chained down, to be forced into the service of a possessive monster. He couldn't hold onto Itachi like that.

A spell.

Chloe wouldn't say something without reason, but if there was magic on Itachi he would smell it. Magic always had a distinct smell, he'd never had a problem smelling it before. Even concealment spells had a smell. If there was magic on Itachi and he couldn't tell, something was very wrong. He squeezed his eyes shut. He would have to do it. He didn't want to, but he was running out of options and Itachi could be in danger because of it.

Letting his eyes shut in the darkness of the blankets and Kit's dark room, he let his thoughts wander in his mind, searching for it. He knew it was here, somewhere in the junk of his mind. There was so much gathered here over the years, there was a lot to sift through and look around, but he couldn't find the fiber. Instead, he found a little door in the corner, barely big enough for a mouse to get through, but as he looked at it, it grew far bigger than himself. It was locked and bared with many chains. He approached it and, with great care, began removing a few of them so that he could pull the door open just a small crack and send a whisper into the darkness beyond.

 _'Danna... Danna….'_

He felt it almost immediately and wondered why he hadn't been able to find it there on his wrist, a strand of string as thin as spider's silk, but so thick it felt like it was slicing through his skin. It came from the darkness on the other side of the door, a massive stirring force that was menacing and powerful. A force Deidara refused to be afraid of, even when he should be. Through the crack in the door came the familiar scent that was so nostalgic to him. Cut wood and desert. Despite his feelings towards the source, his pains from the sun relaxed slightly.

 _'What.'_ Sasori's voice in his mind was aggravated – Deidara had woken him up after all, but the blond knew that he was also curious. He pushed his Maker away so much that he always came when he called for him.

 _'Who is Itachi?'_

 _'That is a stupid thing to bother me about.'_ The string on his wrist tightened, but didn't hurt. Deidara waited, leaning against the mental barrier he had made to keep the redhead at bay. _'I don't know…'_ came an echo of a response.

 _'What is he, un?'_ Deidara's mind-self slid his fingers through the crack the door had made, feeling for Sasori in the hidden darkness, but his fingers were stopped by Sasori's own barriers. Even if he had his door thrown wide open, he would not be able to see into Sasori's mind. The child vampire kept everyone out.

The force behind the barriers that was Sasori settled down, shrinking to the size of the vampire's physical form as if he were sitting by the door himself. He could feel Sasori's fingers reach out to feel his as though he were curled up under the blankets with him. In his mind's eye, he saw flashes of thought, creatures he knew, creatures he didn't know existed. Sasori was showing him his thoughts. Images rushing passed him until they froze on a man who looked shockingly like Itachi. His hair was white and his wrinkles deep, but his dark red tinted eyes were bright and strong. He was about to ask who the man was, but Sasori spoke first in a tone much gentler than he would have used in person, it was difficult to keep masks on when speaking like this. _'I lost you in Rome…'_

 _'I kept you out,'_ Deidara replied, annoyed at the change in subject. Already the man's face was vanishing. It wasn't his thought, so he couldn't keep it.

 _'I heard what happened.'_ A rumble of anger followed for a moment before it subsided. _'You should have killed them all. My thoughts remain the same.'_ Leave the council, become a lone vampire, leave his home. No. Deidara waited, letting his questions go unasked because he knew Sasori could feel them and his frustration at the deviation.

 _'Shadow Hunters keep their children close. Close as werewolf pups. Mistakes happen. He could be a lost child.'_

 _'I would have smelled it, un.'_

 _Smell…_

It was more of an emotion than an actual word, echoing with longing in the darkness on the other side of the door. He felt Sasori's fingers on his own again, sliding over to grasp his hand in a desperation his Maker would never show physically. He knew what Sasori was thinking about. It was harder to keep things secret like this, feelings seeped through the cracks no matter how strong they kept each other at bay. In truth, Deidara would have gladly given Sasori what he longed for if he could.

It took long moments before Sasori seemed to compose himself enough to return to the conversation. _'You cannot smell anything because of your hunger.'_

 _'You would have said something if you knew, un.'_

There was silence on the other side of the door. Deidara decided that Sasori may have suspected, but didn't truly know what Itachi was. Shadow Hunters were not a people to play around with. The blond was absolutely certain that Sasori would have said something if he thought Itachi was a danger to him. If only to mock him in some way. Perhaps that was why Sasori had asked for Itachi's full name then, but Deidara hadn't given it and neither did Itachi. Perhaps he had been trying to confirm his memory, but what memory. In the silence that followed, he felt a gentle pull, dragging him slightly closer to the door. _'Come back to me…'_ was the echoing thought, but Deidara shut the door immediately to bar himself against his Maker and his selfish, possessive ways. Even if it sometimes felt as though it would make things so much easier.


	13. Privacy

Deidara walked the hallways to Itachi's room, fingering the old hoodie he had pulled on rather than getting fully dressed. The edge of his jeans trailed over his bare feet, frayed from being stepped on so often. It was difficult to find clothes that fit him properly sometimes and he was too lazy to get them tailored. He was shorter than most teenagers, having been changed before much growth spurts and was malnourished as well. He gave the hallway a little sniff and smiled, taking a deeper inhale of the scent that lingered from the source being there not long ago. His favorite smell.

The door to Itachi's room was ajar and he peeked his head inside. His human was standing in his closet, fumbling around with the lights on. He entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him to give them privacy. The room smelled like him now after weeks of him occupying it. It made him smile more. His scent matched nicely with the pine and oak firewood that burned low at night to heat the room. Walking to the closet, he nudged the door open a little more, watching Itachi putting away clothing items he had pulled from a shopping bag. Of course, Kit wouldn't let him out of the city without doing some shopping. The clothes he had purchased for his new human had been the dull sort of colors he had indicated liking in Japan, but the brunette had so far not bothered to personalize his wardrobe.

"What'd you buy?" he asked in a soft voice so he wouldn't startle him.

"A new pair of shoes, and some shirts," Itachi said, turning around. "Kit said the shoes were cool and I should get them because they'll be good for when it gets colder outside."

Deidara came over and sat down on the small sofa resting against the wall and looked at the new boots standing next to the few other shoes on the rack. "They are cool," he assured him, wondering if he should be mad at Kit. He hadn't said anything to anyone, but all his humans knew what had happened with the Hunter that night. Kit knew he wouldn't like the idea of Itachi being out in the city alone. He wondered if she had taken him there out of maliciousness, but Itachi didn't seem concerned or upset so perhaps she wasn't mad anymore. Still, Deidara didn't like the idea of Itachi being out of safety's reach, but he looked okay from where he sat watching him.

"I tried not to spend so much," Itachi was saying. "Since I already have so much…" Deidara grinned a little, watching him being nervous about spending someone else's money. Kit took him to expensive stores too. The woman had expensive tastes for someone who managed money for a living. Maybe that was why she was more okay with spending his money than Itachi was.

"Don't worry," Deidara said, waving his hand casually as he drew his feet up on the cushions. "I know you won't waste anything, un." He reached up and ran his fingers through his unbrushed hair before tying it back. "What else did Chloe say?"

"Not much," Itachi said casually, pulling out the brown paper bag that smelled of tea. "She was nice and made me tea, so I bought some. It smells really nice."

Deidara narrowed his eyes a little as he waited in vain for Itachi to say more. What else had Chloe told him that he wouldn't want to share? He wasn't used to his humans keeping so many secrets. Chloe was a nice person. One of those people who saw the good in anyone and liked bunnies and babies and cute things and had more patience than anyone should. She wouldn't have said anything cruel, but whatever she had said, Itachi didn't seem keen to share.

When he realized silence wasn't going to get Itachi to talk, he changed the subject. "Remember what you said in Rome?" he asked, drumming her fingers on his knees. "About you possibly being a Shadow Hunter, un?"

Itachi nodded and sat down next to him. "Yes," he replied. "You said it wouldn't make sense if I was one."

"It doesn't make sense," Deidara replied, gripping a handful of his jeans tightly in frustration. "I… I'm starting to think you were right, un. If you are, for some reason, no one can smell it on you, un. Not me, not… not Sasori, not the Court. You smell completely human to me. I s'pose it could account for why you're immune to glamour and Sasori's tricks because that's never worked well on Hunters… Maybe even why your blood smells so good, un. It just… it doesn't make sense." He rubbed his palms into his eyes with a groan. Sasori was right. Shadow Hunters were so secret, so possessive of their own kind. A child in a random foster care in a busy city like Tokyo that housed thousands of paranormal would have been snatched away almost instantly as a play thing for a vengeful creature. It was a miracle no one had found him before he came along.

"What did Kit want last night?" Itachi asked suddenly, though he wasn't looking at him.

Deidara made a small face, wondering if he should tell Itachi. He had a feeling that the truth would hurt Itachi's feelings, not knowing if his new friends were putting on a face or not. "She wanted to have sex," he said bluntly instead, then wondered if that was better or worse.

"Oh…" by the sudden spike in the brunette's heartbeat he could tell he was blushing. "Are you two…?"

"We don't work like that," Deidara said, grinning slightly. "Sex sometimes helps … feedings?" he wasn't sure if that was the right word. "Not with Sam, not with Wes, sometimes with the others… and it's fun?"

"Is it?" Itachi said under his breath.

Deidara nodded with a grin, but decided not to elaborate. The brunette was watching him out of the corner of his strange red eyes. He thought about the face Sasori had shown him, though he couldn't recall it distinctly now; perhaps someone Sasori had run into years ago. Itachi had those same eyes, only kinder and far gentler. The man Sasori had shown him had the eyes of a cruel and harsh person.

"What is it? What are you thinking about?" Itachi asked uncharacteristically. Usually he didn't break silences and never asked about what he was thinking about. Something seemed different about him. He seemed more…resolved, comfortable.

"I was thinking about how much I love your eyes, un," Deidara said, enjoying the blush that flared across his ears and cheeks.

"They're strange," Itachi sputtered in a mutter.

"I like strange things."

"I meant what I said today," the brunette informed him, trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Deidara gave a soft groan. "Why, though?" he asked, running his hands through his hair again. "It doesn't matter if they find out, un. I don't want you to do this because you're worried about me. I'm stronger than them. And it's dangerous."

"I know it's dangerous," Itachi replied. "I read the Book of Souls."

"Yeah, how _did_ you find that book?" Deidara replied unhappily. When he'd taken the book from the Mage who made it, he had hoped to protect his friends. She had been planning to use the book to keep track of all the Human Servants to capture and experiment on them, to kill them, hinder their vampires. He had tried. It was a pity his friend hadn't stayed safe… "It was made by a Mage, a nasty, sadistic Mage who made it to record Human Servants. To kill them." He watched Itachi, taking in how he sat poised and patient. Deidara was pretty sure Itachi had no idea how to sit relaxed and casual. He wanted him to relax, maybe it was something they'd work on eventually.

Itachi was still looking at him, waiting for him to say more. "I don't like it, un," he finally replied when it became clear Itachi wasn't going to drop the subject.

"Why?"

"Because I only said that lie to keep you safe, un. I don't want to do it just to cover up my lie, or feel you have to become one just to be something here. It isn't something you can change your mind about after you do it, un," he replied, exasperated. "It's forever. For-e-ver," he emphasized slowly, as if that would make it clearer to the brunette.

"I have thought about it," Itachi replied, stubbornly. "I've thought it over and it's what I want. I know you're strong enough to fight them all, but I don't want you to have to. If you don't want to do it, just say so. Don't try to convince me to change my mind instead of saying no."

"It could kill you," Deidara snapped, hating how logical Itachi sounded. "It could break your mind."

"I'm strong. I'm willing to risk that."

"You're an idiot," Deidara growled. "It's not a good idea, un. I break things," he added, knowing without being able to stop himself that he was still doing what Itachi said he was, not saying no. "I destroy things. Everything I do: destruction! That's why my name starts with 'D'. D is for Deidara and Destruction."

Though there was no loss of fight in his stubborn eyes, Itachi's posture fell slightly. He was unhappy that Deidara was still trying to convince him otherwise when he had made up his mind. But forever was too long. Forever living, forever connected, never alone… Alone. The blond inhale and shut his eyes as the edges of memories floated to his inner vision. He was not old enough to forget his human life entirely. Faces were difficult, full memories were faded, but feelings were not. He didn't like being alone. Being alone was terrifying, but being connected with someone forever, sharing everything – joy and pain – it was a bit scary. He was already working his hardest to keep one person out. Itachi was too beautiful to last forever. Beauty was best left to decay and end. That's what made it special.

Sighing, he rest his head against his arm resting on the back of the sofa. Should Itachi die… Well, he already knew his fate. He had watched Sasori mourn the loss of himself, even though his Maker tried to hide it in his own arrogance. He still felt his frustration, his sorrow… and Deidara pitied him at times. Sasori starved in his unquenchable thirst. Deidara had to admit the blood of his menagerie didn't fully satisfy him as they once did, but he didn't couldn't feed off Itachi alone. Itachi wouldn't survive it. He needed others to feed on so he didn't damage anyone; nor did he want to force Itachi when he was finally starting to offer himself instead.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft kiss, startling him back out of his head. The surprise must have shown on his face because Itachi immediately broke it, turning away with red-cheeked embarrassment.

"Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," Itachi mumbled, moving to get up, but Deidara stopped him.

"I want another," Deidara said, grinning as he touched his chin to bring him back, kissing him softly. Itachi made a soft noise that was somewhere between a curious sound and whimper as his lips kneaded against Itachi's until the brunette started to return it. Whether he was finished or needed breath, Itachi started to pull away again, and Deidara let him, but kept his hand on his jaw to hold him still again. When he looked confused, Deidara gave him a wily grin and swung his leg over to sit up on his lap. Itachi leaned away from him slightly, eyes wary and nervous, but Deidara just grinned at him and chose to be very patient.

But not so patient that he'd let Itachi stop him.

Not when he started it.

Leaning into him, Deidara ran his mouth up Itachi's neck, smiling a little when he felt him tense. He wouldn't bite him. Not now. Instead, he kissed his skin, running his tongue across the curves and indents of his neck, tasting the delicious smell of him. He felt Itachi swallow as he moved closer to the place he had bit him so often when he first took him from Japan. His nervousness made him shiver gently with his own temptations. Nothing would be more perfect than to break his skin with his fangs. To taste the pooling rivers of blood and lap up loose droplets mixing with salty sweat. That was his nature and he denied himself that. To deny oneself something … wasn't that what all humans craved? The achievement was nothing in comparison to the anticipation, the buildup of excitement. That was why he didn't gorge himself.

He pulled his mouth away from his neck before he went too far, sliding against Itachi's hips and quite pleased to learn it wasn't completely dead down there. The brunette looked embarrassed and slightly terrified and unsure of what to do with his hands, so Deidara took them and placed them on his own sides under his hoodie to touch his warm skin. He didn't care what Kit said, humans were more comfortable with warmth and he had showered before coming. His own hands slid down Itachi's chest, feeling the different kinds of curves than his neck had. Breaking the kiss again, he pulled Itachi's shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor carelessly behind him with a smirk.

"Y-you… you shouldn't… just throw clothes around," Itachi stammered out as Deidara placed his hands on Itachi's knees and began to wiggle his hips against the bulge in Itachi's pants.

"So stop me," Deidara smirked.

Itachi's hands were still resting on Deidara's waist, watching him with a clear loss of what to do. His mouth parted as though he were about to say something more, but the words seemed stuck in his throat even after he swallowed, his eyes dropping to where his hands rested. 'I don't know what to do.' That had been what Itachi was about to say, he was sure. Picking one hand up, he began tugging his own sweater up to slide out from under Itachi's hands, watching him follow the movement with a shaky exhale.

His hoodie dropped to the ground and Deidara followed it, standing upright and watching Itachi's hands fall away from him and tried to cover up the obvious erection he had, but as Deidara moved to the door Itachi stood and followed him. "Wanna kiss me again?" Deidara asked. Itachi swallowed and nodded, but didn't say anything as he glanced at the door to make sure it was closed. Yes, he knows you're a private person. Deidara grinned and made a flying leap onto Itachi's bed, then sat up and pointed expectantly at his lips.

Itachi made another face at him – Deidara wondered if he knew his face was doing it – and came over to climb up onto the bed and gave him a kiss, though it was short. A smirk plastered all over his face, Deidara reached down and began undoing Itachi's pants, pushing them off him. Gripping his bare behind, he playfully flipped him over and began kissing down his stomach and slid his fingers up his erection. Itachi gave a sharp intake of breath that was part pleasure and part fear – his sharp teeth anywhere near his genitals was probably something to feel nervous about, but it hadn't been a problem so long ago in his Tokyo mansion… though Itachi hadn't know he had sharp teeth then.

"I wont bite you," he told him, crawling up into his lap. "Unless you want me to." He gave a little smack of his lips and Itachi gave him another face that showed he didn't like him making a joke, but also wasn't entirely against it. Deidara felt as though he were scoring win after win tonight.

"I don't know what to do," Itachi said in a barely audible voice, swallowing thickly.

"Don't think about it," he purred as he kissed his neck, sliding his legs up so he could stand up on the mattress so he could push his own pants off then return to kiss him, tasting him without biting was almost torture, but a pleasuring kind. Itachi kissed him back as he knelt down to straddle his hips again, grinning as he positioned himself, breaking the kiss so he could watch his face as he pushed Itachi into him. The brunette's fingers dug into his sides, a moan escaping his lips before he could stop himself. He waited until Itachi loosened his grip before he began rocking on top of him, fingers sliding across the sides of his face to push his hair back, kissing down his jaw, careful to not let the brunette feel his teeth. He didn't want to scare him.

Just because he was dead didn't mean he couldn't feel pleasure, it was simply different than if he were alive. His body still reacted for the most part, but the pleasure came from the partner. The stench of their pleasure seeped out of every poor, their breath hot and fast and their hearts slamming against their rib cage. These things sent his own senses into a frenzy, fueling him the same way fear brought pleasure to blood. He groaned deeply and kissed into the meat of his neck, wanting to bite him so badly, but resisted. Instead, he listened in delight to Itachi's increased breathing in his ear, the way his hands moved from their grip on his hips to slide up his back, holding him closer as he began matching his movements.

Purring happily in his ear, he pulled them down onto the mattress with Itachi's warm body on top of him. Itachi kissed him first this time, one hand planted on the mattress next to Deidara's head, the other gripping his hip to thrust into him. Moans vibrating in his mouth made him want to bite Itachi's tongue as he kissed him. He wanted to taste him, just a little. His own body was begging for it. He could taste his venom in his mouth and wondered if Itachi could taste it as well, what did it taste like to him? Itachi broke the kiss suddenly, moaning into his shoulder.

"B-bite me," he gasped. His head flipped to the side to get his hair out of the way, exposing his neck to him. "I know you want to…"

Deidara gave a soft groan of happiness and sunk his fangs into his neck, relishing in the gush of life filling his mouth. It was amazing that he could have ever found something that tasted like this on this world. Three hundred and forty-two years he had been waiting for such a flavor. He moaned in happiness as the venom from his fangs spread through Itachi's veins and he cried out, releasing inside him.

The blond gave the wound his fangs had made a gentle lick to ensure they would close, then let his head fall back against the mattress as Itachi trembled slightly in the aftermath of pleasure. His cheek was still pressed against his shoulder and he could feel the heat rising on his face. A smile broke over Deidara's face. He flipped them over again and crawled up to lay across Itachi's chest, his feet swinging above them. His grinning face made Itachi's heat up more in embarrassment and he turned his head to stare at the curtains. "Feel good?" he murmured, leaning down to kiss his jaw again. He didn't last as long as Deidara would have liked, but it was his first time.

Itachi only nodded, and tried to roll over to perhaps save himself the embarrassment of exposure after being so close. Deidara obliged by getting off of him and stretching out to snuggle against him. "You're warm now," he stated after clearing his throat a few times.

"You warmed me up, un," Deidara told him, grinning as he rubbed his nose against the arm Itachi had stretched out. He wanted to taste more than the few thick gulps he had gotten. No, he wouldn't. He was better than taking without asking.

In silence they laid together, Itachi shifted to look at him, but neither said anything for a few hours. When the sun began to rise, Deidara shifted to crawl under the blankets and Itachi rose to close his bedroom curtains to protect the blond from the sun and joined him. Normally, Deidara didn't like silence, but this seemed to be a different kind of silence. He enjoyed watching Itachi, who got up after another hour to disappear into the bathroom. He was concerned that his human was upset, but he returned to him, smelling of soap and shampoo, hair slightly damp though he had tried to dry it quickly. The curtains blocked out the sun's painful rays, but he could still feel it climbing across the sky. Next to him, Itachi's breathing was slow and even; he had done a lot that day and hadn't gotten a decent amount of sleep. He wished he could get into his mind and figure out what in the world possessed him to do what they had done and to suggest what he was suggesting.

"Deidara?"

"Hm?"

"I didn't do it to change your mind."

Deidara closed his eyes, feeling his body beginning to die with the start of the day. "I understand," he replied quietly.

"I'm okay with it. It's what I want. It will make things easier."

"I heard you."

"Do you not want it?"

Heaving a sigh, Deidara rolled onto his stomach, the sun not quite high enough to hinder his movements, so he could look at Itachi more easily. The blankets were modestly drawn up to his chest, but he didn't look very self-conscious. The wonders of hormones. "It's more complicated than that," he said gently.

"Would you rather it be someone else?"

"No," Deidara replied without needing to think about it. "Vampires don't think about that… I've never heard of anyone who strives to have a Human Servant. I don't understand it, un. I don't know what it'd be like."

"You're scared?" Itachi asked him quietly.

"Yeah, a little."

"I'm not scared."

"You're an idiot, un," he told him with a small grin.

"The unknown doesn't have to be scary," Itachi told him.

"How philosophical of you," Deidara said with a snicker.

Itachi lay in silence on his side of the bed for a few moments before hesitantly sliding closer to him, his arm going around Deidara's torso. The blond shifted to snuggle closer to him and tuck his head into the curve of his neck so he could spend his Suntime death with something nice at least. "I won't change my mind," he whispered in his ear. "And they won't forget."

"I'll think about it. Go to sleep, Itachi."

When Itachi opened his eyes again, the room was dark, but it was always dark in his room. He habitually swung his legs over the side of the bed to go and open the curtains, but stopped and looked back at the bed. Deidara was still lying on there. He couldn't open them if Deidara was there, the sun would hurt him. Instead, he stretched his arms over his head and settled back onto his comfortable bed with a smile. He felt good. Better than good. Except his stretch made him realize that his growling stomach was what had awoken him in the first place.

He placed his hand on it to settle it down and turned to look at the other side of the bed. There was a small nightlight in the bathroom he used to help find it when the lights were off. It hast a dim light through the open door, letting him just make out Deidara's figure where it had been when he'd fallen asleep. The blond himself could be sleeping, but Itachi knew better. He inched closer, placing his head next to Deidara's on the pillow.

"Good morning," he murmured softly. There was no response from the blond, not even a twitch of muscle; the sun was probably high in the sky and he was too tired to respond. Reaching out, he brushed a stray lock of hair off his face and told him he was going to get something to eat.

Finding his clothes in the dark was conducted far less gracefully than he would have liked, but he managed and slipped into the hallway as quietly as he could. Deidara may not be actually sleeping, but Itachi would be courteous anyway. The sun was up and passed its highest point when he walked down the halls to the kitchen. The big clock that hung said it was three in the afternoon. He had never slept so long before, but he really hadn't slept well the previous night. Rose hadn't come to find him, perhaps she knew that if he wasn't in the library, he wasn't going to be able to play with her. He made himself a plate of over easy eggs and toast with leftover sausages from an outing with the other humans the other day. He sat down with a mug of tea, grateful that no one was around. He wanted some time to think to himself.

Try as he might, he couldn't ignore the memories of the night before. It was incredibly embarrassing and made him want to drown himself in his cup. He didn't know what had come over himself. Deidara had looked so off – upset and resign, more subdued than usual. His intention had been to snap him out of his thoughts, but that hadn't require kissing him. He had intended to offer him his blood, but Deidara's comment about sex making feeding easier… no, that was an excuse. He did it because…

Because he wanted to.

Stabbing his sausage harder than necessary, he frowned at himself. There was no logical reason for his actions. He had wanted to do it, so he did. He had wanted to give him a kiss, and then… other things happened. And it did make the bite easier… or the reactions easier to handle.

He hoped Deidara believed him that he hadn't done it to convince him. That would have been low. Itachi wasn't that kind of person. Obviously. He rubbed his face roughly. He did hope Deidara would agree. He knew it was dangerous and knew that there was a lot of unknown about it. So far, the duties assigned to him as a fake Human Servant weren't unpleasant. He enjoyed going to meetings and learning about politics. He had decided not to go to school, even though Grey told him that his language skills were adequate. Anything he wanted to learn for now could be found in the library and if he wanted to take classes online, he could. When he had been in school, his hours had been erratic and stressful. Not that he had minded then, but he found he was learning more at his own pace.

Cleaning and putting his plate back into the cupboard, he started to leave, but paused. Deidara would be hungry when he got up. Hungry meant cranky… and maybe bity. Opening the fridge, he pulled out a few packets of blood Deidara kept there and poured it into a large cup so he could microwave the thick liquid. It wasn't pleasant; Itachi tried not to peer into the cup as he took it out and returned to his room. He tried to think of it as only slightly solidified jello … or maybe tomato juice. Taking a breath, he pushed the door open and slipped inside quickly so he could shut out the light from the hallway windows and returned to set the cup on his nightstand.

He really should be in the library, but he was feeling lazy. A nice kind of lazy. Rarely did he ever feel the desire to lounge in bed all day, but he found himself thinking that he could do just that today. And besides, he thought as he reached his arms over head and stretched his back, he would be keeping Deidara company when he was ready to talk. He shook his arms and gave his shoulders a roll. He did feel very good today. He paused a moment, and wondered if it was because of… that. No, that wouldn't make sense… or maybe it would. He didn't want to think about it. Instead, he turned his attention over to the occupant of his bed.

The blond was still in the same position he had left him in: half on his side, half on his stomach with one leg bent as if he had fallen from the ceiling onto the bed. It might have seemed strange, but Itachi knew he slept like that sometimes when he was hot or exhausted. Watching him, he wondered if daytime was painful for a vampire; being stuck in the same position all day unable to move, sometimes unable to speak seemed extremely uncomfortable. Deidara had told him that vampires were paranoid about being found in their daytime state – no he had called it something else. Suntime death. They were vulnerable, Deidara had explained, but Deidara trusted him to stay with him when the sun came up, to let him see him like this. And Sasori as well, but the redhead had been without a choice when Itachi had come upon them and Sasori was scary enough that Itachi couldn't dream of anyone trying to kill him during the day.

Opening his desk drawer, he pulled out the small pocket knife he had gotten in the city and crawled up onto the bed near the blond. When he had given Deidara blood, he had appeared much more alive, perhaps it would help some now. Gently as he could, he rolled the vampire over and pulled him half onto his lap, but the blond didn't react. Holding his breath, he made a deep cut into the meat of his hand and watched the blood pool before he carefully tipped the blood into Deidara's mouth, being careful not to get any on his sheets. It took a few moments for Deidara to react, swallowing and wrapping his lips around his hand over the cut. He felt his fangs brush his skin before the blond seemed to check himself and stop. Then the wound was gone, healed by Deidara's saliva.

Itachi smiled down at him when he opened his eyes. "Hi," he said softly as the blond licked his lips to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "I brought you some blood," he added, reaching over to pick up the cup and hold it for him to sip. "Feel better?"

"Yeah," Deidara nodded, closing his eyes again. "I didn't eat much this week… and I was thinking, un."

"What about?" Itachi asked, helping him sit up when he tried to himself.

Deidara was silent as he tucked his legs underneath himself, still to drained by the sun to support his body easily – Itachi suddenly remembered Deidara was naked and looked away to give him decency – it looked like an effort to face him as he beckoned him closer. "Come closer, Itachi," he requested softly.

Obeyed, Itachi slide closer to him, wondering a little worriedly if Deidara wanted him to kiss him again. He was much too close for comfort, he felt, particularly after the closeness of the night before and Deidara was still naked. He started to open his mouth to ask him what he wanted, when Deidara's hand shot out to grab his throat in a strong grip. Startled, Itachi tried to pull away, but the blond wouldn't let go. His hand was strangely warm on his skin, but the pressure was first uncomfortable and then dangerous. He tried to speak, to ask what was wrong. He couldn't take any air. Fingers dug into Deidara's cold arm, panic setting in as his chest tried desperately to gain air into his lungs. He couldn't breathe. Deidara was choking him.


	14. Lost Memories

What had happened? What was wrong? Had he done something? Was the blood bad? Itachi struggled in Deidara's grip, desperately trying to break his hold. A small part of his brain told him to stop panicking, Deidara wouldn't hurt him, but his body wouldn't listen, his lungs screaming for more air. His fingers dug into Deidara's arm, feeling as though he were gripping him tight enough to break his bones, but Deidara didn't budge. It felt as though something was clawing its way up his torso into his throat. Black spots were appearing in his vision; he couldn't even gasp out his name.

Then suddenly, the hand was pulled away. If he had the air to scream he would have, for it felt as though the blond was peeling the skin off of his neck as he moved his hand. As he gasped, hand flying to his own throat, Itachi realized Deidara hadn't been squeezing hard at all and nothing had been torn from his throat. And yet, in Deidara's hand was something colorless, but shimmering, shifting from pale to darker shades, not opaque, but not clear, spilling over his cupped fingers and curling back into the mass in his hand. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he wanted it back. He needed it. Whatever it was, its absence was noted like a hole in his chest, making him feel paralyzed. He choked out Deidara's name. Give it back. Give it back. Please. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. Whatever that is, please give it back. His pleads never left his mouth. All he could do was watch as Deidara brought his hand to his mouth and began devouring the substance. Itachi felt panic rising in his chest again. Whatever that was, he needed it. He would die without it, he was sure. Why was he taking it away?!

Reaching out, he tried to grab his hand, but missed and his fingers fell passed it to catch and tangle in the locks of blond hair that never quite reached the pony tail Deidara wore. The vampire didn't raise his eyes to look at him, though the weight in his hair had made his head tilt in an uncomfortable looking position. The fair features twisted in sudden pain as he clutched just above his stomach, the muscles of his torso contracting visibly. The thing he had taken from Itachi was fighting the rest of his body. Because it's mine, Itachi thought, feeling as though his body could no longer hold itself together without that thing. When he appeared to have gotten control over whatever pain he was feeling, Deidara moved his hand to his collar bone. There were scars there Itachi hadn't noticed before. Layers of scar tissue piled atop one another on his chest as though someone had taken pieces of his skin away. As Itachi watched, Deidara worked something out of his chest, a mass like the one he had taken from Itachi. It too was colorless, but seemed denser. With his free hand, Deidara reached up and slid his finger into Itachi's mouth, using the weight of his arm to open it wide. Itachi had no choice, but to swallow the thing forced into his mouth.

Once, Itachi had stayed up late studying for an exam and decided to go to a local izakaya for food instead of the usual sandwich from the conbini. He had unintentionally sat next to a chatty stranger who talked him into trying live baby octopus with him. The creature had put up a fight going down, its tentacles clutching at the insides of his throat. The mass clutched his throat as it went down too, finding things to attach itself to just like the octopus had, choking him from the inside.

And then pain.

So much pain.

His insides were tearing apart.

His bones breaking into a thousand pieces at once.

His skin was peeling off to let his organs fall from his torso.

He screamed in pain and couldn't stop. He tasted blood in his mouth and heard Deidara calling his name with panic in his voice.

And the world went black.

Colors blurred together in his vision. Reds, whites, pinks, greens. He felt pain searing through his body, but grit his teeth against it and waited for the colors to separate and sharpen. As they did, the colors became recognizable. Red was Itachi's curtains and sheets. White and pink was hair, and green were wide, staring eyes. Rose. He blinked again and saw her kneeling on the bed with her arms around Itachi's body, fear emanating off her. Groaning softly, he pushed himself to sit. The sun was set.

"Itachi…"

"H-he's barely breathing," she gasped. "His heart is slow. What happened? What's wrong with him?" she hugged Itachi close like a wounded pet, shaking in her stress. The whites of her eyes began to redden as the skin around them began to darken. "I… I heard screaming. I smelled blood. What's wrong with Itachi?"

The blond growled at her, wanting to tear Itachi from her grasp, but she growled back ferociously. He should know better than to threaten a wolf when she was so close to losing control, but he didn't like her arms around his Itachi. A threat. Footsteps hurried down the hallway and Itachi's door was pushed open. Dolphus, nose flaring as he took in the room by scent rather than his eyes, rushed to his daughter and pulled her into a gentle and intimate hug. The dangers of attacking a wolf so close to changing was all that kept Deidara from launching himself at the pair of them to get them away from Itachi. "Shh, my heart," he murmured in her ear. "Control your wolf. You are not strong enough to change without your pack."

With a doglike whine, Rose closed her eyes and took in the comforting scent of her father and pack. When her breathing slowed, she looked at Deidara, eyes back to normal. "Why won't Itachi wake up?" she asked in a small voice.

Deidara didn't answer; he had none. Dolphus was looking at him intently, but with apprehension and accusation, not fear. Reaching out, Deidara touched Itachi's cheek and slipped as close to the two protective wolves and placed his hand on Itachi's arm. At her father's comforting urges, Rose let go of her friend and Deidara pulled him into his lap, holding him gently like an oversized doll. Something had changed. He felt something change. He smelled the change. Itachi still smelled wonderful, so delicious, but now… now he smelled like a Shadow Hunter. He had their scent. Sasori had been right. Itachi was a lost child of a Shadow Hunter family. But this opened up more questions. How was this possible? The sudden change in his smell must be what made Rose's father look at him in such a way. He was supposed to be keeping Rose safe from Shadow Hunters, not inviting one in to live with her. But he hadn't known. No one had known.

 _'Wake up, Itachi. Wake up… answer me, un…'_

He searched his mind for a link. There should be one. Did he do something wrong? All he could find was the door to Sasori. He didn't feel any different, but Itachi smelled different. A spell. A spell that had hid the trace elements of a Shadow Hunter from everyone. Whatever they had done had been magic far stronger than the spell. It had broken with the exchange. He gave a soft whine similar to the one Rose had let out. He bit his finger, sliding it into Itachi's mouth. Heal. Heal. Wake up.

"Is there anything we can do?" Dolphus said finally, watching them closely with his arms still wrapped around Rose. He could smell the scent of wolf stronger. The man was doing something to keep Rose calm enough to control herself so she wouldn't change. Pack magic.

"Please go get Kit, and tell her to bring Belle," he said finally. "Don't tell anyone else what has happened."

"No secrets from my Alpha," Rose whimpered suddenly as if reciting something. Her father rest his chin on top of her head in a very doglike manner. Werewolves were very physical people.

"I know. No one else."

"Will Itachi be okay?" Rose whispered.

"I hope so. Hurry."

The two wolves left, shutting the door on their way out. Rising quickly, he went into Itachi's closet and pulled his pants back on before returning to Itachi's side. Had something gone wrong? His brows knitted in concern. Why wasn't Itachi waking up? Pulling Itachi back onto his lap, he pet his black hair from his face. His heart was so slow. His breath so shallow. Deidara wondered if he wasn't suffering more himself because he was a vampire. Perhaps, but Itachi was practically human…

"Itachi," he called softly to him.

"Deidara, what's wrong? What happened?" Kit came into the room, still dressed in her sleeping shorts and night shirt. "Are you alright?"

Belle, immaculately dressed as always, entered the room behind her. She walked around Kit to reach for Itachi, but stopped when Deidara growled at her. "I will not harm him, Deidara," she informed him coolly. "I see you've tried to do the exchange."

"Why isn't he waking up?" Deidara demanded angrily as if it were her fault.

"I don't know," she replied, examining the blond with a professional eye. "But the process of turning him to into your Human Servant has been started. I told the wolves to stay away. I do not think the little one should see him like this."

"Wait," Kits voice sounded from where she had stopped near the bed. "Itachi wasn't your Human Servant?"

Belle touched Itachi's forehead, then shifted her eyes to Deidara's chest where the scars Sasori's fangs had left after months of abuse that never healed properly. She didn't comment on them. "He wasn't," she said finally, "but if he survives this, he will be."

"It worked?" Deidara asked.

"If he survives," she repeated.

Deidara glared at her calm face. "I will kill you if you take advantage of this, un."

She stood upright again, straightening her back to her full height and smoothed down the front of her dress. "I am loyal to my City Master," she stated.

"Yeah, sure," he growled. "Is there anything I can do?"

"He needs to be kept warm," she said quietly. "Do not give him too much of your blood or he will become addicted to it. That is dangerous for a human."

"I know that," Deidara snapped.

"Human Servants are a delicate balance between themselves and their vampires. They must be able to retain themselves as well as the bit of you," she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "And you as well. You must feed soon, Deidara. You must hunt."

"Kit, I need you to keep him warm," Deidara said to his human. "I can't do it."

"Sure," she said in a quiet voice. "But wouldn't Rose be better? Werewolves give off much more heat…"

"I trust you, Kit," Deidara told her. "And Rose is only ten, she can't handle this, un." He watched Kit give a nod, climbing up onto the bed and slid her legs under the covers, tucking them around Itachi as well and wrapped her arms around him.

"Deidara," Belle scolded softly to get his attention again. "You need to feed. The longer you put it off, the harder it will be for both of you. You are connected. You feel each other's pain. He is weak because you are. You will both need your strength for him to get better. You need to take care of his soul."

He glared at her, knowing what she was saying. He would have to leave Itachi. How could he leave him like this? Was she insane? He couldn't leave him alone and vulnerable in a house of vampires and werewolves. Anyone or anything could come in and do what they wanted to him. If he was out hunting, he couldn't help him. Could he trust the vampires in his home? No. Though maybe they were scared enough to stay away, but that didn't mean they wouldn't orchestrate something so it didn't look like any one of them. Deidara would kill them all if they touched his humans. They knew that. His arms wrapped around Itachi tighter, stared down Belle as if this was all her fault. She stared back impassively. He didn't trust her at all, the self-preserving spinster. She had been in the service of the previous City Master, but hadn't lifted a finger to stop him from tearing the creature to shreds. Loyal, his ass.

"Deidara," Kit said in the soft voice she used whenever he was close to losing it. "It's alright. I'll make sure no one comes in or hurts him." She reached out and touched his arm gently, but cautiously, then slid her arms around Itachi to tuck him under the covers and out of Deidara's grip.

It was true. He needed to get away. Needed some form of release before he panicked and killed everyone in the mansion. He didn't like this. Not at all. The outside world was cast in an eerie moon glow though it wasn't full. Eyes were watching him in the shadows, cautious and wild, but nothing challenged his presence. They watched him, sensing the predator before them. They had come to run though his territory that night. He couldn't hunt on the grounds tonight. One of the shadows shifted, a huge mass, far bigger than any dog settling into a comfortable seated position of watchfulness. Body language was important to wolves. If their Alpha was calm, the pack would relax. Jasper would keep unwanted people and creatures out of the building while he was gone. The other vampires didn't understand the relationship he had with the werewolves. Jasper was a good Alpha and his wolves would keep his home safe if the protective spell failed.

He hadn't hunted in a long time. Itachi had been the last he officially tracked and lured. Several months then. Nearly a whole year. Had it really been that long already… Crouching, he sprinted away with a chorus of yelps and howls from the wolves who weren't permitted to give chase. Something all predators, undead and living, had in common: chasing something to the ground made the meal more enjoyable.

Itachi had gifted him with his own blood and blood packets earlier. It was the only thing keeping him from tracking everything in sight. The city would be too easy. Too many lost souls to provide substance for him. No. He needed blood. Violence. Pain. He was the Master of the City, he couldn't hunt like that in the city. If he was going to control the vampires in his domain he had to demonstrate more control than them. On the surface, anyway. To the old factories and asylum he went, using his nose to seek what he needed. Sweat. Blood. Anger. Arousal. Humans were such beastly creatures. Society forced them out of that state, demanding proper dress and etiquette. These rules made the natural beasts act out within causing mental stress, depression, and aggression. Some dealt with that silently, some with therapy, and others let the beasts out in bare knuckle fights and gambles.

He scanned the area carefully with all his senses. A non-human in this group could cause problems. There were only humans inside of the asylum's empty rooms, but he wouldn't step into that building again. Never again. He watched hungrily from the window as the men fought together, licking his lips as scuffling shoes smeared blood and sweat together on the concrete floor. The winner was a large man. He would take him. When he stopped him, alone on his way home, he brushed him off. Not gay. Not interested. So the hunt began. Without a road, the man was blind for directions under the trees. Crashing through the underbrush, screaming for help as he held onto the hope that he was getting closer to civilization. He wasn't. Deidara herded him further and further away into the deepest parts of the woods. Cornered, he turned and tried fighting, but Deidara toyed with him. He let him escape. He ran again. He hid in a cave and Deidara followed. He struggled. Deidara ripped his chest open and pulled his heart out of its crevice and drank from his arteries like a straw.

Sitting amidst flesh and blood, he let himself relax and think, quietly chewing on a tough piece of meat. He hadn't needed to feed; Belle had been wrong, but that didn't mean he hadn't enjoyed his hunt and how it caused his worries to be forgotten for the moment. And what was one human loss? The world was overrun with them. He wanted more. Red, screaming and helpless with the purest blood he could find. A baby maybe. His tongue slipped out to lick his lips. Sometimes his kind belittled humans, but they were no better. He was no better. Fuck rules. Fuck the court and their pretentious ways. He was his own Master and lived by his own rules. He could live on his own without any followers. No land. No obligations. Living in the heat of the hunt. That would be art.

That was why people obeyed him. Why the respected him. Why they feared him. Even though he was changed when he was so young, taken from this very building so long ago. Even though he wasn't the strongest Master Vampire. Oh, he was strong, but that wasn't what made him powerful and they afraid. He was cruel. He loved the chaos left in his wake. The world was his plaything and everyone on it. He looked down at himself and the gore that covered him. He wanted more. More. He was no human. Society didn't hold him, but the sun did. He felt it beginning to creep up into the sky again, maybe there was a home close by where he could get… just one more meal.

Cotton sheets draped in familiar tucks kept his body snug in bed. He wouldn't roll off. He was far too old for that sort of nonsense anyway, but it was the familiarity that kept him from kicking himself free of the blankets. There was an odd weight distribution on his mattress. It made him tilt awkwardly to one side, but he didn't mind. Siblings were annoying sometimes, but that didn't mean it was okay to turn away his baby brother when he toddled into his room clutching his favorite blanket and toy crying about monsters. He was proud that he could get the two-and-a-half-year-old to go back to sleep, and it made him feel like a hero because he had come to him and not their parents.

"Are you having trouble sleeping, sweetheart?" Mother asked as she slipped into the room as if she heard his thoughts. "I can take him to his room."

"It's okay, Momma," he rolled over to face her kind face as she knelt down to sweep his hair back from his forehead. "It's really quiet tonight…"

"It is," she agreed, kissing his forehead. She smelled like the floral shampoo she used and yeast. Maybe she was making bread when she came to check on them. She kissed his brother's forehead as well, and whispered the same phrase she said every night when she tucked them in. "I love you boys. Sleep well till morning. Safe in bed from harm." She said it to him since he could remember. It was like a magic spell that kept them safe.

Even still, he couldn't fall asleep after she left. He rolled to face his brother's peaceful face and the door mother had closed. The only sound he could hear was the ticking of the old clock in Father's study. He began to naturally count the ticks to help him fall asleep. When two hours passed without even a doze, he peeled the covers off, re-tucking them around his brother then padded barefoot towards the main part of the house to get a drink or snack from the kitchen. Maybe mother would let him eat some of the bread she had made.

As he approached the main area of the house, the silence began to bother him. He should be able to hear someone in the main area, or in his parents' bedroom, or in the kitchen. Some form of life in the house, but all was silent. It was too early for his parents to be in bed, and they wouldn't leave the two of them alone in the house. He should go back to bed. The house was too quiet. But he took another step anyway. Something wasn't right with the air, it was like leaning towards the oven door without waiting for the heat to disperse. He stepped through anyway, and looked behind him, but there was nothing to indicate the strange feeling.

Now that he was in the main area of the house, he could hear sounds in the house again. His father and mother were in the open space that held the kitchen, family room, and tatami room. He could hear his father's voice, angry and threatening. Who was he talking to like that? He had never heard him talk like that in the house before. It couldn't be Mother. Father never raised his voice to her, or to his boys. He listened closely, but the voice that answered was not one he recognized, but he couldn't make out the words. Getting down on the floor, he crawled across the smooth hardwood floors to hide behind the sofa to get closer without being seen. If Father was talking to someone important, he didn't want to disappoint Father by being discovered eavesdropping. The family room was large with enough space to host the majority of his extended family. Behind him was the door to his father's study – open, which was odd because father generally kept that space private. Work should not seep into the family, he would tell his sons, playfully peeking under the crack in the door.

He peeked now into the family room, eyes widening in fear at the scene before him.

There was a monster in the room with his parents.

It wasn't a monster like in his picture books, but one covered in blood and grim, it's mouth full of fangs long and sharp and horns that curved down angrily. It didn't look like his cartoon picture books, but it couldn't be anything but a monster. Father held the sword that usually hung on the wall, brandishing it at the creature. His blood pounded so hard in his ears, he couldn't focus on their words, but the gestures were threatening. He felt himself begin to shake.

"Kyoufu o kaide…"

The atmosphere changed instantly. His parents had been standing firm and strong against this danger, but at the monster's words, their attention expanded. Father didn't take his eyes from the monster, but mother's head swiveled around. To the kitchen. To the hallway that led to the sleeping area of the house. The monster's nostrils flared and father advanced, bringing the monster's attention to himself. Mother finally spotted him and her eyes widened in terror he had never seen on her face. She shook in stress, but the other two didn't notice them. More words were shouted, cruel and angry. In a flash of steel, father lashed out at the creature that lunged. Instead of helping father, mother ran to him frozen with his head sticking out from behind the sofa. In one smooth motion, she lift him off the floor and ran into father's study.

"Momma," he whimpered, clutching her as he stared over her shoulder. "Father—"

"Sh, no baby, no baby, don't look," she said, trying to hide it from him, but his eyes could still see before she pushed the door shut, blocking out the monster tearing his father's chest apart with its teeth and claws.

"Sweetheart," she whispered, setting him gently on the floor under father's desk.

"Father—"

"Look at me, sweetheart," she said, cupping his cheeks. "I love you. I love you so much. Don't you move. Stay under the desk. Stay safe. Stay safe." She kissed his forehead, then each of his cheeks. "No monsters will find you. You will be safe. Stay under the desk, okay, baby? Don't make sound. You have be a good big brother," she whispered, kissing his forehead again. She whispered something he didn't understand, holding his fear stricken face in her hands. She whispered she loved him one more time before her body jerked and she was dragged away. A scream rose up into his chest, but he forced it down. He had to be quiet. He had to be good. But he was so scared and he could hear his mother dying and the monster sniffing around for him. His head began to hurt, a ringing in his ears. It hurt so bad.

Something grabbed him from behind, the scream finally escaping after his mother into a cold, black room. He was held down. He fought and struggled, but it was no use. There was a cold substance around his wrists and feet and neck. Where was he? Who was he? He was so alone and in the darkness that crushed him, he couldn't even remember his own name. Alone and so afraid. What was he scared of? The monsters of course. But they thought he was a monster. They didn't understand. Who were they? Mother…father… everyone. They were wrong. He wasn't a monster. The monsters were around them. They pretended to be friends, relatives, priests, doctors. They were monsters. They didn't believe him. He was the monster.

Confusion filled him. He placed his hands over his face and found features that weren't his own. Panicking, he tried to move, but the cold shackles held him down. He had to get away. The metal dug into old wounds of his ankles. He had to escape. He choked as the metal tightened around his neck. They were coming. Those men. He hated them. They poked. They prodded. They screamed at him and poured water on him. They forced bile they called medicine down his throat and carved words, burned symbols on his skin. That was when they were trying to fix him. THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM. He hated them touching him. He was powerless against them. And they liked that. When there was only one, it was worse. They did worse. Without them, he was Alone. Alone scared him. The Shadows came when he was alone. The whispers followed. And then He came. He would laugh at Them and their work and would wipe it clean – which only infuriated Them later, but he laughed at them. He would chase the Shadows away, but bring his own. He would cut open his skin and wiggle his fingers inside him. He laughed at his screams and He tore into his flesh.

Just as the pain became too great, he fell away from His teeth in his chest and sunk under the surface of… what? It didn't matter. The pain was gone. His fear gone. Worries gone. He felt more at peace than he had ever felt. All the way to the bottom of whatever pool he had fallen into. No pain. No fear. No worries. Total peace. Something he had never felt before.

Then he heard something. Three syllables. A word. No, not just a word. His name. It was his mother's voice. His fathers. And all the monsters. then once more with the voice of the face that wasn't his own. Itachi. That was his name. Opening his eyes, he turned and looked at that face inches from his own.

"Deidara," he breathed out.

"Itachi," the blond echoed.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know," Deidara replied. "You brought us here, un."

"I did?"

"I think so, I've never been here before, un."

"I haven't either."

"Then I don't know how we got here."

"Hm… I saw…. I saw her… My mother… my father and… my brother… Sasuke."

"I know, I saw too," Deidara said softly.

"What happened?"

"It was a… a demon, I think. Your father was fighting it an—"

"No, no, I mean… to us… if I brought us here, where is here?"

"Oh… Sorry… Human Servant," he replied more softly. "Sorry… I… I thought I'd bail if I said something. Sorry if I scared you, un."

"So… So I'm your… we're…?"

"Yeah," Deidara said, his mouth spreading into a smile, a smile Itachi had never seen on Deidara's face before. It was… "peaceful," the blond finished his thought as the smirk became a grin. "I feel so happy. This is nice."

"I can… I can feel that you're happy," Itachi said, feeling lame for saying so. "Was that you? Before you became a vampire?"

Deidara nodded, looking away as he reached up to touch the scar on his chest absentmindedly. Itachi knew, somehow without knowing how, that the scar was from Sasori feeding on him. Sasori's favorite place to bite. Sasori's bite didn't heal as well as other vampires'. "People didn't understand medicine and the mind like they do now. If you were different, people thought possession or… or something, un."

Itachi reached out, unsure if he wanted to touch the scar, or take Deidara's wrist. He took Deidara's wrist. There were no marks there. Sasori had given his blood to clear away the wounds left by a scared child's struggles against shackles and rope and cages. "How long were you there?" he asked.

"I don't remember," was the quiet reply. "I didn't even remember all that."

"I'm sorry," Itachi murmured. "And it was… you said a demon?"

"I think so, un," Deidara said, more serious. "'Demon' is a bit of a broad term, like 'fae'. It looked like something that could be called a demon. Memories are hard to understand, cause you don't watch it like a movie, you experience them, un. You didn't understand what was being said, so I didn't either…. I think your mom put a spell on you before she died to hide you from anything that would hurt you. She must have been a Mage... That's probably why no one ever found you."

"You found me," Itachi reminded him, smiling fondly at him. "I guess you're not as much of a monster as you thought." He touched the side of his cheek affectionately, but remembered hunting people down, torturing and feeding on them. They made him feel content and full. No, he wasn't remembering. Deidara was. "A different kind of monster," Itachi said quietly.

Blue eyes stared at him silently. Itachi couldn't tell he wasn't convinced. Somehow, this place they were in calmed his mind down enough to think clearly. Itachi could sense memories of a chaotic mind that wasn't his own, but here, Deidara was at peace. He wondered what sort of diagnosis a psychologist would give him with the advancement medicine had now; Deidara giggled at the thought and shrugged in response.

"Will we always hear each other's thoughts?" Itachi asked.

"In here, I think we will," Deidara said. "Outside of here, maybe, until you learn to shut me out when you want, un. That's how it is with vampires with their Maker. Makers usually know how to close their mind off to their Made, but Made need to learn how to keep their Makers out."

"Like you keep Sasori out?"

"Yeah," Deidara said quietly. "I always imagine a door, but I think it can be anything you want. Sasori taught me, uh… begrudgingly. He uses jars."

"Jars?"

"He likes jars," Deidara told him as they shared a laugh. "Jars to keep his precious things in and fences to keep people out, un. Come on," he said, standing and holding his hand out. "I'll show you how I do it."

Itachi took his hand and let himself be led to an archway with an old handmade looking door that hadn't been there a few moments ago. As they walked inside, he felt something change. Something in the air. The place they had left had been a peaceful place they shared. This space was Deidara's. It felt claustrophobic like a hallway, but huge like an open warehouse. There were piles of things everywhere, some so high he couldn't see the top. There were framed photographs propped up all over with images inside. Some of the people in them were shifting on their feet, while others played like a movie clip. Memories, he supposed. Some had black canvases covering them, blocking the memory from himself.

"It's a wonder you can find anything in here," Itachi commented.

"Hey," Deidara said with a laugh. "I'm old. I've seen a lot, un. Can you imagine how stupid smart people would be if they could file away all this crap? It's impossible though, every time you think of something different, the room kind of… goes topsy-turvy and everything gets thrown somewhere else, un."

Humming in curious thought, Itachi carefully picked his way after the blond. A year ago, he wouldn't have believed that any of this was possible. Magic like this doesn't exist to normal people, yet here it was. Science and magic standing together like a twin set. Siamese twins. Connected and sharing organs. He was taking a stroll through Deidara's mind. That was cool. Looking around at the piles of stuff, so bright and colorful and chaotic, he knew he wasn't dreaming. The place was so inarguably Deidara. He wondered what his own mind looked like. As he spun in a slow circle, taking in all that was Deidara's mind, he noticed a darkness creeping after them. It was so out of place it made him stumble back a few paces over a trove that would make a dragon jealous. The darkness crawled over the piles like a sludgy mist, but it took a wide berth around himself. It was following Deidara, not himself, but the vampire appeared to be ignoring it, or simply hadn't noticed it. It clouded things, turning memories grim, but when Itachi took a step closer it fled, retreating into a faraway corner. He wondered what it was, but he became distracted by the room shifting. Deidara was looking at various things as though finding them for the first time. Every time he picked something up, different events and items related to what he had picked up moved to be readily available. Now Itachi could see what he meant by natural disorganization of the mind.

"Hey, Deidara? Where are we? I mean, you and me. Our bodies."

A picture frame he was certain wasn't there a few moments ago appeared when he turned around. In the frame was an image of himself lying on his own bed, unmoving and pale. Kit's arms were around him and she looked worried, glancing over at the door every so often and checking her watch. Another picture nearby showed a trail in the woods and a natural cave made under a huge oak tree and understood that the blond was hiding from the sun and Kit was waiting for him to return. He must have been unconscious all night.

"You wouldn't wake up," Deidara explained. He had been scared and gone hunting to calm his nerves and gotten stuck. Itachi nodded his understanding.

"What does my mind look like?"

"I don't know," Deidara said, going back to his exploring. "Uwa! Look, Itachi!" He held out something large and brightly colored shaped almost like a bird. When he came closer to look, he realized it was a very old-fashioned kite. "Sasori got me this when we were in Indonesia. It's called a layang-layang. Look how sharp it is on the string, see? You're supposed to try and cut your opponent's string when they're flying, un."

"Sasori gave it to you?" Itachi asked incredulously. Sasori didn't seem the type of person to give gifts.

Deidara looked down at the items presenting themselves to him and thought for a moment. "I think it was a bribe… when I was still human, I don't… remember." The items around him didn't make sense to Itachi and they didn't seem to explain much to Deidara either. Still, he smiled at the kite and set it down gently before continuing on. "It takes practice to walk around in your mind like this," he explained as though he hadn't changed the subject. "I had to learn to keep things out and I come here a lot when I'm bored to talk to—… well since I've changed, not like… on a regular basis, un."

Itachi looked across the room, somehow knowing what to look for. It was a door, plain except for the brass knob at its side… and the chains and padlocks covering it. He turned his eyes back to the small vampire a few feet away with a raised eyebrow. Sasori.

"I can't completely get away," the blond explained, keeping his gaze stubbornly away from the door. He held up his hand and Itachi could see a previously invisible string attached to his wrist leading towards the door. "But I keep him out as best I can."

"When he was here," Itachi began slowly, thinking back to the Sasori's visit in Greece, "it seemed like you two were just sitting in silence…"

"We were talking through the door," Deidara finished, reaching out to touch the door that had been so far away only a moment ago. Deidara's thoughts brought it closer. "It's easier that way sometimes, un."

"Deidara, what is that thing?" Itachi asked, turning sharply to glare at the misty sludge that had been snaking its way around him towards Deidara. As soon as he did, retreated quickly.

Deidara turned from the door quickly to stare at Itachi in surprise, then glanced passed him to eye the mass with distaste. "Oh, I don't know," he said, the casual tone in his voice not matching the look he was giving it. "That's always been here, un."

Itachi looked at it a moment longer, then glanced back at the look on Deidara's face as he tried to find something to distract him from Sasori and the mist. He said his name softly to get his attention and held his hand out before walking through the door they had come through to the same wonderful calmness. Deidara was right behind him, Itachi could feel his eagerness. The blond took a deep inhale as his own clutter and worries were left behind. Itachi wondered if the dark mist was Deidara's mental manifestation of his own psychosis. It'd be interesting to research, but probably not comfortable for the blond. This place was somewhere it couldn't reach because it wouldn't affect Itachi. Whatever connection Makers had with their Made, it didn't give them this sort of peace. Only Itachi could give this to him. Deidara grinned at him and nodded his agreement.

Itachi himself felt this calm. He had no anxieties here because Deidara didn't have anxieties. The space was empty, void. Perhaps when they had spent more time with one another, they would fill the space. It was like a new home, ready to be filled with a new life. He wondered why vampires didn't encourage this idea… Perhaps not everyone had this sort of peace to share.

Closing his eyes, he tried to envision his own space, a door to his own space. A place that was his and no one else's. He could feel Deidara watching him curiously, but when he opened his eyes, barely a mist of a door was there, locked and sealed.

"It takes practice," Deidara assured him when he grew frustrated. "You'll get it." He rest his chin on Itachi's shoulder, nudging him in attempts to brush away his disappointment.

Itachi looked down at him in irritation. "This place is ours," he said bitterly.

"Yep."

"Well, _he_ isn't welcome," Itachi said bitterly, reaching down to grab the string at Deidara's wrist and snapped it off. Pulling it back, he flung it towards the door they had left that led to Deidara's mind to return any trace of the redhead back where it belonged. This was their place. He wouldn't let any part of Sasori in.

The blond's eyes were wide, staring from him to his own wrist, completely mystified. "How'd you do that?" he asked.

"I don't know," Itachi grumbled, still irritated at his failure. Deidara looked over at the door to his mind and the string that had disappeared. As he looked, the door itself closed, leaving them alone in their shared space. He could feel that ounce of Sasori that he could never get rid of leave him. He wasn't sure if it would return once he returned to his own mind, but for now it was completely gone. They'd be getting a visit soon, the blond silently predicted.

"Deidara, I think I need to wake up… I'm getting hungry."

The blond reached over to rub his stomach and lean up for a little kiss. "Yeah, I'll be home soon, un," he told him. "Soon as the sun sets."

Nodding, Itachi felt himself rise up out of their space, floating to the surface. He didn't want to leave, glancing back he saw Deidara watching him as he himself began to disappear inside the door to his mind. They'd still be able to share thoughts, he could feel Deidara telling him. They'd be speaking one another, but they'd both be awake when it was happening. Even still he lifted his hand to wave goodbye to him just before he broke the surface of awareness and opened his eyes.


	15. Personalities

He could hear someone calling his name as his eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, but there was too much noise in his head. Throbbing like his brain had swollen inside his skull. He clutched it as he fell back down and felt hands gripping his shoulders, calling his name. He couldn't hear the words coming out of Kit's mouth when he squinted up at her. His mind was so cluttered. So noisy.

 _'What's wrong?'_ Deidara's voice called.

 _'I can't… I ca— It's too loud…'_

 _'Sorry… sorry,'_ the blond's voice whispered in his head. The excess in his brain he recognized as Deidara there, but his mind wasn't used to having two instead of one. He felt the blond pull away, as if stretching a rubber band between them. Not a rubber band, just a thinning of the link between them. And as it thinned, the headache went away.

"Sorry," he said to Kit, "what'd you say?"

She smiled ruefully at him. "I said not to move, and also if you were okay," she replied, touching his forehead and then his throat. "You seem alright… but you've been unconscious for a whole day and night. You weren't breathing well, but now you seem okay…"

"I'm fine now," Itachi said, running his hands over his forehead. His hair was damp from the sweat on his forehead. "Deidara wanted to… try something."

"Where is Deidara?"

"He's hiding from the sun," he said, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Despite the darkness the curtains gave the room, he could tell where the sun was in the sky. "He'll be back soon, it just set. Sorry, I'm really hungry."

"Wait, Itachi!" she cried, climbing over the bed to follow him. "You should lie down and rest, I'll bring you something."

"No, it's okay," he assured her, waving her off while he pulled his hoodie on against the cold air of the castle and stalking down the hallway. "I'm fine now. Thank you for—"

"Itachi!" Rose ran out of her bedroom and launched herself into his arms. He stopped walking to catch her and she squeezed him tight. Behind her, a man came out Itachi knew by face but not by name. "Are you okay? I was really worried! You wouldn't wake up and Kit wouldn't let me see you!"

"I'm sorry you were worried," Itachi told her, giving her shoulder a pat.

"This is my vati!" she said, tugging his arm and pointing it back at the man.

"Dolphus Schaefer," the man said, holding his hand out. "Rose's father. You gave us all a scare earlier."

"Sorry," he repeated shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Deidara and I were just trying something," he repeated, stepping away from her. "I need to eat something. You should keep studying now."

"But," she said, looking upset. "You're okay now, right?"

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear?"

"It's life binding!"

"That's silly."

"It's completely true!"

"Alright, yes," he took her finger with his own, shaking it unenthusiastically. "I'm fine."

"Good," she said, letting go of her finger and gave him one more hug, squeezing him tightly. He grunted a little. She was getting stronger. She stepped back and looked at him intently, playing with her hair nervously.

"I'm fine, Rose, I pinky-swore," Itachi said with a small gesture to his hands. "You should go back to studying."

She gave a pout Deidara would have been impressed with, but then gave a beaming smile and took her father's hand and went back to her room. Sometimes Itachi forgot she was only eight. He glanced behind him and saw Kit watching them from in front of another door down the hall. She gave a smile when she saw him looking then went inside and shut the door. Alone now and freed from concerned friends, he moved through the hallways of the castle towards the kitchen. He tried to quell his hunger enough to be able to make a decent meal, but while he tried, his fingers put parts of meals into his mouth. A piece of cheese, a bit of meat, some onion, a few slices of tomato. He was about to reach for the pickle jar when he realized he had just eaten a sandwich without actually making a sandwich. He grimaced and closed the refrigerator. Sighing, he opened them again, pulled a pickle out of the jar to eat and reached into the communal pizza delivery boxes to pull two slices out to reheat in the microwave.

"Itachi, I'm pleased you're awake," Belle said from the doorway as he sat down with his plate. Fresh from her Suntime death, she appeared as though she never felt hunger in her life. He wondered how she did it, but supposed it possibly began before her change, whomever she had been before she was turned. "It appears to have worked – the exchange of souls. Thank the gods for all our sake, because I don't think Deidara would have taken your death very well."

"How did you know?" Itachi asked, picking the toppings off one of the slices to nibble on.

 _'What does she know, un?'_ Deidara's voice slid through his head curiously.

Itachi said a firm shush in his head so he could focus on her response, but it didn't go well. Deidara didn't enjoy being shushed and he had to ask her to repeat herself.

"I find Human Servants fascinating," she explained. "I study them. They are different, you see, from normal humans. Different from other…" she paused, seeming to search for a word, "personal humans. When they first make the change, humans have difficulty separating their own personalities from their vampire's." She gave him a little smile as he glanced down at his plate in horror; he'd eaten with his fingers. He couldn't stop fidgeting. He had dug things out of their containers without washing his hands. Wincing, he stubbornly put the pizza back down on the plate and went to get a fork and knife. "Don't worry, it will pass," she told him. "It's easier for the vampire because they develop that connection with their Maker. If it's alright for you, I'd be very interested in asking you some questions; I have not gotten the chance to interact so closely with a new Human Servant before."

"You want to study me?"

 _'Absolutely not!'_

"I," he began, wincing a little. "I don't think Deidara would like that."

 _'I hate it!'_

 _'Shut up… Deidara please,'_ Itachi begged, rubbing his temples. _'My brain can't handle this. It's not used to it.'_

 _'Don't you tell me to shut up, un!'_ he growled. _'She wants to run experiments on you!'_

 _'She said 'questions','_ Itachi told him, taking a deep breath. _'Please, you're hurting me…'_

He felt Deidara's remorse over that and felt him beginning to pull away. _'Sorry… I'll be home in twenty minutes, un…. Don't let her eat you…'_

"She's not going to eat me."

"Certainly not," Belle said with a light laugh.

Not realizing he spoke aloud, Itachi flushed and mumbled an apology. "I don't think Deidara would like you questioning me without speaking to him first," he explained. "We're still…"

"Balance," she told him as though she were helping him with an assignment. "I understand and wouldn't dream of stepping over Deidara." Still she was looking at him, curiously assessing what he was doing. Studying him. "I'm sure he'll seek me out himself, but do tell him I'd like to speak to him." Giving him a light curtsey, she slipped out the kitchen leaving him alone to his pizza.

Retreating to the library, he selected a book on the subject of Anatomy – his current study focus – and began taking notes, using a dictionary to look up any new words he didn't know. Belle's words about distinctions of personalities was making him realize that his notes weren't as consistent and his work slowed as he worked to ensure that all his notes were organized properly. Not long after, he felt something change. Just like he had known where the sun was in the sky when he had woken up, he knew when Deidara arrived at the house. He could feel him getting closer and looked up just before the blond opened the door. He was suspiciously looking around for Belle, sniffing the room a little as though she might be hiding from him.

"She's not here," he told her, though that was quite obvious. Belle wasn't the type of person who would be hiding behind a shelf.

Watching Deidara look around the library made him smile. After spending time in his head, seeing him face to face seemed like an entirely different experience. His thoughts on his vampire had changed when he had tasted his blood. He wasn't just portable food bank, Deidara cared for him in his own way because Itachi was his. Now, it was impossible to imagine thinking anything else. He had been in Deidara's head. Deidara wasn't just the vampire he belonged to, Deidara was his. Their connection still seemed strange, but it also seemed… right. He couldn't hear the blond's thoughts – he was keeping their link thing to save Itachi from the headaches, but he could feel the emotions that went along with them, allowing him to guess what he was thinking.

"Can you hear my thoughts?" he asked curiously.

"No," Deidara replied, coming over to wedge himself between Itachi and the back of the chair. "I was listening earlier, to see if I could without giving you a headache, un. Mostly just feelings."

Itachi nodded his understanding and went back to his book, the weight of the blond comforting now. It felt as though he hadn't seen him in weeks rather than a day and a half. It seemed stupid to think like that, after only such a short time, but, he mused to himself, having the other half of your soul closer was probably what made it feel so nice. The part of him that had been Deidara was settling comfortably with his own. He was sorely tempted to retreat back into the space they shared in their minds, but he had a feeling spending too much time there would be dangerous for both of them. If Belle had mentioned having difficulty separating their personalities when they were in their own heads, more time spent in that place where their thoughts were one would make separating their personalities more difficult.

"You're being very meticulous," Deidara commented, looking over his shoulder at his notes on the skeletal system.

Itachi sighed miserably, looking down at the notes. "Part of me wants to scribble all over the paper," he muttered, irritable that his rows of notes weren't perfectly lined up.

"So? That would make it look better, right? It's what I'd do, un."

"Exactly," Itachi said, leaning back to gently crush the blond. "Belle said Human Servants have trouble separating their personalities from their vampire for a while. I'm just being extra conscious of what I'm doing. My way."

Deidara laughed against his shoulder. "You're going to develop an OCD, un."

"I doubt it, that's not how OCDs develop," Itachi countered.

"You could."

"Well then it would be my OCD," Itachi replied with a half-smile. Deidara gave his side a gently pinch, then slipped his hands underneath the warmth of the maroon hoodie he wore. Silently grateful he hadn't stuck his cold hands underneath his shirt, Itachi sat forward again and began copying the sketch of the skeletons of the hand from his book onto a blank page of his notebook. "When will Sasori be here?"

"Depends on where he is and how pissed he is," Deidara replied with a dark chuckle. "Tomorrow or the day after." He leaned up against him, his nose rubbing against the back of his neck. Instead of the feel of his teeth, which was what he'd been expecting, it was his lips working their way up his neck.

"How did you make the door to your mind?" Itachi asked quickly, his face heating up.

"Distracting me won't work," Deidara sang softly.

"This is the library," Itachi said grumpily.

"So?" his hand slid down his shirt towards his pants.

Itachi dropped his pen and grabbed Deidara's arm. "Stop it," he said firmly. "Not here. Someone could walk in."

"I like being close to you," the blond murmured against him. "I can more than smell you now. I like this feeling."

"Me too," Itachi said quietly, then turned to give him a dark look. "But not in public," he added firmly.

Deidara sighed dramatically as the library door opened and Kit walked in with a man Itachi didn't know. He elbowed the blond in the ribs because he was still whining softly, though it hurt Itachi's elbow more than it hurt Deidara. The blond looked up as Kit approached them in a very business-like manner.

"Good evening Deidara, Itachi," she said, folding her hands in front of her. Excellent timing; Deidara giggled in his ear, either able to hear his thought or sense his relief. "Deidara, this is Tobias Andersen. He's the beta of a werewolf pack from Denmark and would like to speak to you and Jasper. I set up space in the north common room."

 _'Who's Jasper?'_ Itachi thought, trying to send it to the blond as he glanced back at him.

He felt Deidara shift and rest his chin back on his shoulder. _'I can't hear your thought, but can feel your question…'_ Itachi gave a frustrated sigh, displeased with his inability to communicate with him, but Deidara's voice continued in his head. 'Is it about who they are?'

'Yes.'

'A beta is a werewolf pack's second in command. Jasper is Rose's Alpha.'

'Ah… I see. I don't like that I can only respond when you start the conversation…'

'Don't worry, you'll get—'

"Deidara?"

"Sorry," Deidara said aloud, grinning good naturedly. "I was just explaining something to Itachi." He gave the brunette a pat on the head, which he responded with a backwards glare. "I'm Deidara, the Master Vampire of this city. This is Itachi, my Human Servant."

The man, Tobias Andersen, looked at Itachi with a curious expression, but then let his head fall in a slight bow without breaking eye contact. "I'm sorry," he said in careful English. "I don't speak German, but I understand that English is spoken by you?"

"Yes," Deidara replied, switching easily. He repeated what he had said, but the curious look on the man's face didn't change. Itachi decided that the werewolf didn't know what a Human Servant was, but could tell that Itachi was someone important based on the formalities. Even though he wasn't.

"I am pleased to meet both of you," the man said, lowering his head a little more, but didn't break eye contact. "I apologize for my Alpha, Mikkel Clausen, for not giving you notice before my arrival, but the topic is very important and I had to come as quickly as possible."

"Kit, would you mind taking our guest to the north room and calling Jasper? I will join you momentarily," Deidara instructed, hugging Itachi again. Kit gave him a look Itachi wasn't sure Deidara saw, but nodded and led the man away. Deidara tilted his head to the side, silent for a few moments. "He's not impressed with me, un. Guess he expected someone bigger," he commented, giggling aloud and in his mind. Itachi smiled, leaning back against him again. He liked the sound of his laughter in his head. "Want to come?"

"Mm… No, I think I should stay here and study," Itachi murmured, looking down at his work. "I haven't studied in a few days. Will you let me know what he wants?"

"Okay," Deidara crooned, snuggling his body – his whole body; his ears burned – against his back then slid out from behind him. The missing weight made his back feel cold and he almost asked him not to go, but Deidara had work to do just like he did. The blond hesitated in heading out the door, glancing back at him and he knew the blond was thinking the same.

"He may have been more impressed by you if you didn't look like a teenager skipping school," Itachi informed him, picking up his pen as he eyed his torn jeans and old hoodie.

Deidara gave a laughing scoff, leaning back on his heels so his toes came up off the ground. "Whatever," he said with a roll of his eyes. It occurred to Itachi right then that even though Deidara was technically over ten times older than he was, he was also in the body of a young teenager, maybe not even fifteen years old and he was eighteen himself. His gut twisted a little. "Why are you making that face?" Deidara asked, still paused by the door.

"I just realized I'm a pretty sick individual," Itachi muttered.

The blond snorted. "I don't think that's true. You seem the sanest person in the castle, I think, un," Deidara told him. "Why are you sick?"

"We had sex," Itachi replied, eyes dropping to the floor.

"Yeah, we should do that again," Deidara said, his grin widening.

"You're fifteen," Itachi said, closing his eyes.

"Oh, I see," Deidara's voice made him look up, annoyed at his casually amused tone. "I think you're safe, un. Technically I'm the pedophile, though, right? You're practically a baby compared to me, un."

"This is not a subject to joke about," Itachi said sternly.

"I come from different times," Deidara reasoned, though his grin didn't leave his face as he returned to his desk and leaned over to rub his head against his shoulder and cheek like an affectionate cat. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, un. Years aren't important when you live forever. I'll try not to spend too much time with them, un."

Itachi looked up from the floor and nodded as he walked out of the room, smiling at his back. Alone with his books at last, but not isolated. He could feel Deidara in his mind like a security blanket close by. It was daunting how much information could be found in these available books alone. That wasn't even counting information online. Anatomy was such a huge subject with vast amounts of subcategories it was hard to focus on one thing. He would begin one subject and be led astray to another one. He sighed heavily and looked at the mess of his notes. He needed a syllabus, classes to focus on before moving onto the next. A teacher. He was reaching into his desk for more paper when he realized how much time had passed. More than a few hours by the grandfather clock on the other side of the room. He rubbed his eyes and frowned at his notes. He knew Deidara would want him to stay up late all the time. Knew he would want to spend time with Itachi when he was awake during the night, but Itachi liked to sleep at night. He would need to make a schedule and make the blond understand he needed to stick to it.

Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate on mentally calling the blond, though he had no idea how to even begin trying.

 _'Are you calling me?'_ Deidara's voice whispered in his head as he felt the blond closer in his mind again.

 _'Trying… I don't know how to do this.'_

 _'You'll get it, un~ What's wrong?'_

 _'I was just wondering where you were… it's getting late.'_

 _'I know…'_ Even in his head, the whine came through clearly. He could tell the blond was feeling restless. ' _I'm still talking to the wolves. Apparently, this Beta's pack is having trouble with Hunters. They want to stay here, but they need Jasper's approval as well as mine to stay because they'll be temporarily entering another pack's territory. Werewolf politics are messier than vampire ones, un… They're debating whether only the children will come, or the whole pack.'_

 _'I see…'_ Itachi looked up as the door opened and Sam came in with Kit behind her. ' _Sam and Kit are here… I'll speak to you later.'_

"Hi Itachi," Sam said, coming over and giving him a tight hug he hadn't expected and didn't know what to do except pat her shoulder awkwardly. "I heard you weren't feeling well earlier, but you look fine now."

"I am," Itachi told her, pulling away from her and began cleaning up his school work. "Sorry if I made you worry."

"We're going shopping in the city," she told him, nodding back at Kit who had stayed by the door. "Wanna come?"

He couldn't help the slight cringe, which only made her smile more. He didn't like shopping. "I don't…" he paused and thought about it for a moment. If he went with them, he could spend some time alone. He didn't want to leave Deidara, but wanted time to think before he met up with the blond again. He didn't know how he felt about having sex with him and knew Deidara enjoyed physical contact much more than he did. When he had sat down against his back, it had been a nice feeling – one he wasn't used to. His wandering the hands under his shirt had made his brain catch up and caused his anxiety to spike. He had to find a balance and knew Deidara would be too impatient to let him do that in his time. Deidara wouldn't want him to go to the city, but it was almost day time, so there was nothing he could do to stop him. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'll come, but just for the ride – if that's okay. I have some work I need to do."

"Fine with me," Sam said, glancing back at Kit.

"It's fine," Kit echoed, turning and walking out the door again, her shoulders stiff. "Meet you at my car. Ten minutes."

"She's so cranky," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what's up her butt lately."

Itachi didn't reply as he cleaned up his school work. He had a feeling the revelation that Deidara had lied even to Kit who had been with him longest hadn't sat well with her. Sam followed him to his bedroom so he could quickly change his clothes and get his shoes and coat. While they walked, she chatted to him about how interesting it would be if the Denmark werewolves came to live here. Most of her research on werewolves dealt with immediate packs who were willing to speak to a vampire's subordinate. Packs were different depending on the Alphas, but the natural instinct to protect their packs made the packs able to blend in with whatever city they live in – so she'd been told. She hadn't known any werewolves in America, but one day hoped to be able to speak to werewolves all over the world because she found them fascinating and far more human than vampires. Itachi told her as they approached Kit's car that she should write a book one day.

 _'Where are you going?'_ Deidara's voice whined sharply in his mind, upset that he had left and he couldn't stop him because of the rising sun. They were halfway to the city before Deidara noticed he was gone.

 _'I'm going to the city with Sam and Kit,'_ Itachi answered patiently.

 _'But I wanted you to stay with me, un…'_

 _'I know, but there's things I need to do today. I'll come later.'_

 _'It could have waited until tomorrow night… come back and stay with me…'_

 _'No,'_ he responded firmly. _'I'm sorry, I will be back around lunch.'_

He felt guilt swelling in him when Deidara didn't respond, but he tried not to dwell on it. Deidara was a child, of course he thought things could wait till later. Time didn't matter much to someone who never aged, but it mattered to Itachi. First on his list of things to do was coffee. He had developed a taste for it since coming here and perhaps it would help with his headache. Not just coffee, today he was craving sweet things like never before and suspected it to be Deidara's fault. Second, he needed to call Tal and ask him about Human Servants. That was the most important thing he had to do, something he suspected would help him push his feelings to the side until he was forced to confront them. Coward.

Sam was still chatting away as Kit drove them, not seeming to care that her companions were silent. Kit hadn't said a single word since they got in the car, but would steal a glance at him in the mirror whenever she thought Itachi wasn't looking. They dropped him off with the promise of a few hours – or call and they'll tell him where they were, and he waved good bye before walking into a local coffee shop.

It was a small, independent one – he thought a chain might be too noisy. He had never sat down in the shop, but the humans in his home often bought coffee from here when they were going out to eat together. Itachi had always wanted to sit down, but never had a chance. Its furniture was all slightly mismatched, but it gave the place a cozy and charming air. The morning rush caused a line up, but he didn't have to wait long for his turn. He ordered a drink and cake for himself and went to find a small table in the corner. He had Tal's number memorized even though he hadn't put it in his phone yet. He had punched in the combination several times, but hadn't known what questions to ask that wouldn't give the lie away. It was a good thing he had waited. Now that he truly was a Human Servant, he certainly would have said something wrong.

He waited, staring down at his phone until one of the café staff brought his coffee and cake to him even though he had risen to retrieve it. The young man waved off his thanks with a smile as he returned behind the counter. Without concern for interruptions, he finally picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Tal. I hope I haven't disturbed you. It's Itachi."

"Oh, good morning," Tal replied, much less formally. "You haven't disturbed me at all. How are you?"

"I'm—" Fine was a lie, but he wasn't not-fine, "doing well. Thank you for asking. I was wondering if your offer still stands…?"

"Of course," said Tal, a rummaging sound coming from the other end of the line. "How can I help you?"

He took a bite of the cake, letting the sugar coat his tongue before answering. "I'm having trouble separating Deidara's personality from my own," he began, the words tumbling out as soon as he began. "It takes a lot of effort to just sit still, and I'm craving things I never cared for before, like sugar and… bread. I've been inside Deidara's head, but I can't get us into my own. I can't speak to Deidara in our minds unless he talks to me first. Is something wrong? Am I broken?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but he could feel his own anxiety mixing badly with Deidara's hyperactive nature. He took a deep breath and took a sip of his coffee, which he realized a little late probably wouldn't help him calm down.

Tal's response was a soft, understanding chuckle. "You are definitely not broken," he assured him. "It takes practice for us. Vampires do it naturally because of the connection they receive from their Makers when they are first turned, but it's more difficult for us humans who have never received such a connection. As a Human Servant, you are both yourself and your vampire, just as your vampire is also you. You learn to keep your own personality, your thoughts, and yourself separate from theirs with work and balance both souls in you."

"What should I do?"

"Hmm," Tal breathed out in thought. "I would recommend learning to meditate, some form of martial arts may help as well. You want to learn how to be in your own head and body. Being aware of yourself and not just Deidara's presence in you." He paused in thought and Itachi took another bite of cake in the silence. "I'm sure you've been getting a lot of headaches… they'll lessen once you get used to having two minds in one skull. Have you been having them since Rome? You should have called me sooner."

"I didn't to bother you, and with what happened in Rome…" The bell above the door jingled as it was opened, letting in a wintery breeze. Itachi looked up and felt his heart beat a little faster, but he forced himself to calm down, lest Deidara sense his fear and come running despite the sun.

"I understand," Tal was saying. "I would try those things first. Being able to send thoughts to Deidara will take a lot more practice… and the connection is different for every pair. If you'd like, I could arrange to visit Germany to help. I'd be happy to get out of Rome for a while."

"Ah—okay," Itachi replied, distracted as the newcomer walked up to his table. "I'll speak to him. Sorry I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

If I'm still alive.

"Alright. Have a good day, Itachi."

"You too," he said before hanging up. Swallowing, he set his phone down and reached cautiously for his coffee.

"Hello, Sasori," he said politely after clearing his throat.

"What did you do?" the redhead's face was calm as ever, but his honey brown eyes were full of daggers and his voice was sharp as a razor. By Deidara's previous time-frame reckoning, Sasori was quite angry.

"I had been trying to have a private conversation with a friend," Itachi explained, realizing a little late that sarcasm wasn't the best option and had a feeling only Deidara would get away with it. He silently cursed his lack of control of his own personality and took a deep breath to calm his voice and his heart. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for bed?"

Sasori gave him a huff of annoyance, the puffing of his cheeks making him look much younger than he was. He had said that he was old, but – much like Deidara at times – he appeared to look his actual age… Not much older than Rose, he guessed. "Don't change the subject," Sasori said, bearing down on him in a threatening manner. "You broke my connection with Deidara. I know it was you."

As dangerous as Sasori was, Itachi's fear for the child vampire began to vanish. He couldn't explain why. The first time he had met Sasori, he had been so terrified. He knew he should be worried, but he wasn't. Something in him told him not to be scared. Something very stupid and Deidara-ish part of him, probably. He wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. Sometimes a little fear was healthy. "Apparently my connection with Deidara is stronger than yours," he replied anyway, taking another sip of his drink.

"Deidara is _my_ creation," Sasori snapped. "He is _my_ property."

"You cannot own people, Sasori," Itachi responded firmly. Absentmindedly, he reached up and rubbed his chest where the scars Sasori had left resided on Deidara, Sasori's eyes following the movement suspiciously. This was a dangerous game to play and he could see it getting more dangerous the more he spoke. Sasori looked ready to tear him to pieces; he could see his fingers itching, barely visible strings trying to connect to his limbs, but they only stayed connected for a second or two before they fell uselessly away. "That doesn't work on me," he reminded the vampire, which made him think of something. "Did you know what I was when you first met me?"

"Tch. You reek of the Shadow Hunters," Sasori growled, eyes narrowing at the subject. "But whatever you did with Deidara masks it to hide the scent from someone who doesn't know better. You just smell like a vampire's human to others."

So that meant Sasori could tell because he was older than most. "Did you know when you first met me?" he pushed.

"I didn't feel you were important enough to remember what I thought of you," Sasori miffed at him, his nose turned up slightly.

"How many vampires have you made?" he asked curiously.

"Thousands."

"Can you talk in all your… Made's heads?"

"Yes," Sasori replied, looking slightly baffled at his questions, whether it was because of the topic change or because the fact was common knowledge among vampires Itachi couldn't tell. "If I want, it is easy, but most of them are dead or useless." Pulling out the chair opposite Itachi, he sat down and folded his arms loosely. Itachi couldn't see them, but he could feel Sasori's feet swinging slightly under his chair before he shifted to cross a leg over his knee.

"How do you do it?" Itachi asked. "How did you learn to do it, I mean?"

Those large, honey eyes stared at him with unblinking blankness for a few seconds longer than he should have before responding, "I am naturally gifted in many ways." Meaning he had no idea. Itachi supposed he had learned like all vampires through his own Maker. Whoever that had been.

Sighing in frustrating, Itachi ate the remainder of his cake and sipped his coffee. Following Tal's advice was still the next step, but he knew he would have to get Deidara's permission to do it. Not just because the blond wouldn't like him leaving the castle grounds, but also because Deidara would be the one paying for the lessons. He ran his hand through his hair with another short sigh. There was still several hours before he could do that because Deidara wouldn't be functioning during the day. Until then, his plan was to go to sleep. He supposed he could sleep with Deidara, which is what the blond would want, if he was going to be out of commission. It wouldn't stress his anxiety. He swallowed a little. The blond was probably unhappy he left, but Deidara would have to get over that. Itachi was an independent person. Deidara was just too possessive.

Speaking of possessive people, Sasori was still sitting across from him, staring openly with no apparent knowledge that staring was considered rude. Taking the opportunity to return the gesture, Itachi studied the redhead more closely than he had been able to before. It was truly impossible to tell just by looking at him that he was an older vampire. What gave him away, perhaps, was the stillness in his doll like face. The delayed human responses. His old eyes. The only emotions ever to grace his face was anger, otherwise his face was void of emotions. His features were difficult to decipher in their origins. The structure of people's faces changes throughout history. One culture to another blends together to form a whole new look for the next few generations. Itachi was no anthropologist, but he couldn't even guess where Deidara's Maker had come from when he was human. His hair wasn't the common ginger-red, but a deep blood red; his eyes a golden brown – though Itachi was no one to judge on strange eye colors. Despite himself, Itachi was curious about this strange child vampire.

"How old are you exactly?"

"Very old," was the reply. Itachi said nothing, waiting patiently for him to actually answer the question. Sasori blinked at him slowly, then leaned back in his chair. "A few thousand or so, I suppose. I've lost track."

"Do you know how old Deidara is?" Itachi asked curiously.

"I changed him three hundred and forty-two years and five months ago," Sasori replied, eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

"Do you know how old he was?"

Sasori's head tilted to the side slightly, his suspicion turning to wondering at his questions. Which was odd to Itachi because if anyone wanted to know about Deidara, Sasori was the best one to answer them. Perhaps no one had ever been brave enough to ask. "His file said he had recently turned fifteen when I found him."

"Did you keep the files?" he asked eagerly.

"No," Sasori replied shortly, giving him a strange look. Not a sentimental person, Sasori was, Itachi decided.

He did some quick math, unable to help himself. Deidara's birthday would be in May then… "What's the last thing you remember from when you were human?" he asked suddenly, leaning forward with interest. Deidara had experienced much of the world's history with three hundred years, but if Sasori was really thousands of years old, he was a walking encyclopedia of information about history. Scientists, historians, theologists, and anthropologists would tear their arms out for a chance to question him.

Sasori, on the other hand, seemed suddenly apprehensive about his interest, leaning away as he leaned forward. "Why?"

"Well, I know it gets harder to remember things about your human life, but if you're that old," Itachi shifted in his chair, his fingers clutching his coffee mug to hide the excited scholar in him, "you've seen so much… everything. You've seen the world become what it is. A few thousand, is… B.C.E…"

If Sasori were a bird, his feathers would have ruffled with pride. Pure flattery was apparently the way to go with this particular child vampire. He could see the redhead even consider his question, looking down at the empty plate between them before replying. His answer, however, was simple and confusing. "Darkness."

"You mean it was night time?" Itachi asked with a frown. That wasn't much to go on, since vampires only came out during the night, it would have been when he was turned.

"No," Sasori snapped, glaring at him as though he was not understanding a simple fact. "Not 'the dark'," he made quotations with his fingers, " _darkness_. That's all. You know, very few people alive have ever really experienced true darkness—"

"Because of the albedo of the clouds," Itachi finished, nodding impatiently. It was more than a little annoying to come across someone who didn't think he was smart. Just from his small experiences and stories he'd heard of the vampire, he suspected Sasori made everyone feel inferior without even trying. Itachi was going to be different. He wasn't a vain person, but after hearing it his whole life and studying hard to make it so, he was determined to prove to Sasori that he was intelligent and worthy of at least a small fraction of his attention. "They reflect city lights and even if there is a black out, light can still reach the naked eye. Because of the phytoplankton and—"

"There is no need to show off," Sasori interrupted with a frown. "Anyway, it was true darkness."

"Are you sure you weren't blind or—"

"No!" Sasori snapped, looking ready to flip the table over. "I am perfect! I have always been perfect! You stupid child, listen to—"

"Okay, okay," Itachi said softly, holding his hands up. "I'm sorry. I was just wondering."

Sasori settled back down in his chair, glowering at him. "Tell Deidara to reopen the connection," he ordered.

"No," Itachi replied, shaking his head. "He will open it if he wants, but not because you are forcing him to."

"I will kill you then."

Itachi looked at him, thinking back to when he first met him. He had been weaker, terrified, and ill-informed. Now he felt stronger, braver, and calmer. "No, you won't," he said, confident that he was right. "If you were going to kill me for severing your connection with Deidara, I'd already be dead." The redhead's glower deepened, but before he could respond, Itachi changed the subject again. "How long will you be staying?" he asked, draining his mug of the remainder of his coffee.

"However long I damn well please."

"Deidara told me you used to study anatomy. Will you teach me? It's what I'm focusing on right now." Itachi doubted the vampire missed the subject changes and flattery for what it was, but Itachi was only guessing at how to make Sasori not get too angry at him, or maim him, or at least answer his questions. Guessing with his gut instincts which were partially fueled by Deidara's past experiences. Itachi didn't particularly like this type of conversation, preferring to engage in a steady flow of topics instead of random jumps, but it seemed rather affective. Maybe it was because he sounded like Deidara, or maybe Sasori's mind worked that way, too.

"Tch," Sasori stood and pushed his chair back in. "I'll think about it."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm tired of talking to you," the back of his head answered as the redhead left the café.

Itachi glanced down at his phone and saw it was almost nine-thirty. The sun had been fully up around six thirty that morning. The redhead was probably going to hide during his Suntime death, but he could stay out much later than Itachi had expected. That was dangerous.


	16. Playmates

Rip. Rip. Rip.

Somehow the sound did nothing to make him feel better despite the satisfaction the destruction gave. Instead, it made him feel even more alone than he actually was, because no one was chiding him for destroying the bedding around him. He wanted someone to stop him. Wanted someone to remind him that the sheets had done nothing wrong and it was wasteful and cruel to punish them. But there was no one else here. No one had done anything wrong. Itachi had every right to go into the city, but why not when the sun was down, so they could go together? Why had he gone alone? If he had waited, they could have gone together. Why hadn't he come to him and brought him peace in his Suntime death? Had he wanted to hide away from him like he had when they first arrived? Was that why he cringed when he touched his warm skin? But Itachi had started it that night. He had. Why was he cringing now? His fingers dug down into the mattress he lay on as if it was the flesh and blood of a fool who could ease his frustration.

What was wrong with him? He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his pillow over his head.

He knew he was possessive, but he had never felt this possessive. Itachi was much more important to him than any of his other humans had ever been. Was it the blood? It must be the blood. Had Sasori felt like this when he had human? Terrified he'd run away and never be able to taste him again? He supposed Sasori had been like that, only it presented itself in possessiveness unheard of in the entire world history. Or was it their new connection? Was he doomed to worry about Itachi forever and forget other important things? Usually non-important-important thing were what clouded his mind when he was meant to be thinking of important, responsible things. Non-important-important things like what did Jelly Beans taste like? And, could a vampire function in outer space? Back on point. He didn't know how Kali and Tal acted when they had first been joined, he had met the pair after they had been together about thirty years. Not for the first time, he wished Kali would return to society again. Perhaps she could elaborate on what was going on, how to help Itachi, and why Itachi cringed away from his touch. Kali clutched onto the remains of her humanity, Tal was her anchor. She loved Tal as a human would love another human. She couldn't bear to see him age and die, so she made him her Human Servant. There hadn't been a name for Human Servants then, it was made up when Kali joined the Council. It was lucky for her that Tal loved her back. He did not love Itachi. He wasn't capable of love, didn't know what it was or how to do it. But Itachi was his. He was his before they were joined and now he was his after. Some part of him let him know Itachi was using him to find someone to belong to. To find some foothold and anchor in this strange world he didn't understand. He still thought it was a stupid thing he did, but Itachi had been right. He had acted irrationally to keep Itachi safe. That moment of peace the brunette gave him was worth it.

And then he left him to die alone, denying him that peace again!

He growled and threw the pillow against the door, then stopped, blinking slowly. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he looked around the room. It was almost noon now, yet he was still very active. He couldn't move easily, and the world still wasn't bright to him, but his body didn't feel dead, he wasn't completely exhausted by the sun. He hadn't known that the connection could give him this. He tested his movements and found he could sit up. He glared at the room. He hated the world like this. It was though all his own demons came together at once and he couldn't get away from it. Everything just looked hideously wrong, muffled and tainted because the dead did not belong to the daylight. It wasn't his normal room, which was colorful to him at night – he had changed his room to punish Itachi for leaving him, but this dreary room had become even drearier when the sun rose. He let himself fall back down on the bed and glared at the ceiling.

Maybe it was because Itachi was now his Human Servant. Maybe that was why he was reacting so poorly. What had Itachi said about his notes? Belle had told him that Human Servants had trouble separating their personalities from their vampires, but it probably went both ways, he reasoned. Perhaps this was Itachi's own anxieties he felt that were leaking into his own personality and that was why he was so anxious and couldn't relax. Did he feel like this all the time? No wonder Itachi was such a stiff.

He pulled the remains of his blankets over his head and let himself turn inward to wander through his own mind. It was not exactly an entertaining place, but he had left all of his electronics in the room behind Sasori's painting. This was his just-in-case room. Though in case of what, he had never figured out.

In his mind, he sat amongst the haphazard collection of thoughts and history, no rhyme or reason to them at all. For the first time since he had been turned, he saw no trace of Sasori on him when he looked at his hands. The door was still there, off in the distance, but there was nothing his Maker except for the memories that presented themselves to him as he thought about the vampire. It was strange to reach out and find him not there. He couldn't even tell if Sasori was crossing the country to come here or not. Even though his Maker always kept him out, he could still tell when he was angry. And the loss of Deidara would make him angry. Perhaps he thought he was dead and was coming to torture whomever had done it. Sasori was definitely coming though, he was sure of that. Sasori kept tabs on everyone he Made, though Sasori had always spoke as though few of his Made were still alive. He never hung onto them for very long anymore. He didn't like keeping a following with him anymore. Deidara hadn't met anyone who had been Made by Sasori in the last two hundred years – or if he did, he wasn't aware that they were Sasori's. No matter how far they traveled, or whether centuries past without any contact, Sasori would find them if he wanted something. He always could. Always kept the barest microscopic thread of power attached to them. He was more possessive than Deidara was; his Made weren't subordinates, they were his toys.

The more he thought about Sasori, the closer the door became. So much so, it was hard to focus on anything else. Though he wasn't sure, Deidara guessed that if he opened the door the thread would return to his wrist. Part of him wanted to open the door. Even though he hated that he always bugged him, treated him poorly, and tried to break him, something about their connection made him happy. Always having someone there who understood him when he became lonely.

But he had Itachi now.

Sort of.

He could feel his presence in his mind, but it was nothing like the one Sasori had. Sasori's was aggressive and imposing. Itachi's was like a warm blanket. Why didn't he have a connection like he did with Sasori? He could see the door that would take him to the space they shared, but he had already tried that door. It was locked. Perhaps he could only get there if Itachi was there, too. He also saw a space that had Nothing. Which was odd, because there wasn't a thing in his mind that didn't have a place and there was no such thing as Nothing here. It had not been there before. It wasn't blankness. It was a bit like staring into a train tunnel when you knew a train was coming. There should be something there, but it hadn't arrived yet. He decided, finally, that it was the way to Itachi's mind space, but the brunette didn't know how to access it, so there was nothing for him here. Whenever Itachi tried to call to him, the Nothing became Something, but too distorted to see what it was. Deidara had to make an effort to speak to him through an imagined link they had which he suspected was the reason the brunette always sounded odd when they spoke mind to mind.

Reaching up, he brushed his hand through his hair and came back out of his mind, reaching over the bed for something to entertain him that was left on the floor. His fingers found a book and he dragged it out to start reading. It was a young adult book, and he found the story interesting when he had first purchased it and decided to reread it now, vaguely wondering why it had been left down here. He wondered if he liked it because part of his brain hadn't aged with the years he'd spent on this planet. The other child vampire he knew thought that cartoons were the greatest invention the modern world and couldn't understand why others would give him strange looks when he sat through marathons of Scooby Doo and Thundercats.

Not long after he began reading, he felt Itachi return to the mansion. He felt their connection becoming stronger, but he refused to let himself get excited over it. He felt Itachi go to his usual room, felt his confusion at his absence. He was halfway through the fourth chapter when footsteps sounded outside and Itachi opened the door to the room. His scent filled the space, and despite himself, it made him happy and he wondered how he had found him.

"I could feel where you were," Itachi answered his silent confusion. "And there's footprints outside in the dust."

Curse the fools who never thought to clean dungeons.

"You shouldn't have destroyed the bed," Itachi scolded, eyeing the mess.

With a violent roll of his eyes, he shoved the shredded blanket away from him and rolled over to give him his back, putting down the page so he could find it again. Itachi's annoyance towards the blond rose briefly then settled back down. How dare he act as if he was doing something annoying. He left him. Left him to die here by himself. He could go out in the sunlight. He could eat and sleep when he wished. He could see colors in the day time. Things were alive to him and he left him to go play on his own, making sure he was unable to follow him.

"Deidara, stop it," Itachi said, quite unlike himself. "I can feel what you're thinking, and you're being a brat."

The blond responded by pulling the blanket back over his head.

"Sasori's in the city."

The blanket came off instantly and Deidara whipped around to stare at him, nose flaring to catch Sasori's scent. It was there, how did he miss it? How did he not feel him when he was so close by? Was it the broken connection? Did that mean he couldn't sense Sasori at all anymore? Itachi had run into Sasori, he could smell the redhead lingering on him, but Itachi looked unharmed. Sasori would be in the house before the sun completely set. The whole place would be in an uproar; his Maker made everyone nervous. What had he said to Itachi? What did he do to him? Itachi was only wearing jeans and his coat. There were no marks on his neck and he seemed alright, but that was impossible. He must have done something. Deidara's eyes were dead. He couldn't see if something was wrong. Maybe it was psychological damage. Sasori must have done something to him. His eyes darted around the room, trying frantically to force his eyes to focus on things again, to make things become alive again. Suntime death prevented it, or maybe it was the shadows that Itachi could somehow see in his mind – he had thought all this time he had been imagining the darkness. He needed to see now! Despite how unhappy he was, he needed to see that Itachi wasn't hurt.

Warm hands touched his cheek, stopping him from moving more. "Deidara," Itachi said firmly, snapping him out of his rising hysteria. He stared at his human and found his features clear and alive. "I'm alright, calm down. I'm not hurt."

"How do you know he's here, un?" he asked. "I can't feel him at all."

"He came to talk to me when I was getting coffee this morning," Itachi explained, sitting down on the bed facing him. "I'm okay, honest. He didn't do anything except talk." Deidara stared up at him as he took off his coat and set it down atop the mattress. There weren't any marks on his skin, but Sasori rarely did anything but talk. How badly he wanted to be alone in their minds, Itachi could sense that too, but shook his head. "I know what you want," he began softly. "But I don't think it's a good idea to stay in that place for long periods of time… I want to go too, but I think we need to know more first. Tal said it could be dangerous."

"You're too cautious," Deidara grumbled. "What's the fun in that?"

"I'm sorry," Itachi said, removing his shoes so he could cross his legs on the bed. "I called Tal while I was in the city. He suggested that I take martial arts and learn to meditate… that it would help me. I know you don't like when I'm not at home, but I… think it sounds fun. Can I do it?"

Deidara looked at him from where he lay and cursed himself quietly. Those stupid big eyes stared back, though his head was tilted down. Hoping against hope, that expression said. How exactly could he say 'no' to a look like that. He wasn't even trying to look pitiful. "I guess," he muttered in response. A return glance let him see the pleased expression that brightened the other's face, which was slightly rewarding for agreeing to it. "But you'll come to bed with me in the mornings, un. You can go to evening classes. Which I'll pick out. And a chaperone."

Itachi nodded to each of his demands. "I don't want to burden anyone though; wouldn't it be easier for me to get a license so I can drive my—"

"Cars are dangerous," Deidara cut him off.

"Alright," Itachi said, sounding a little amused and shifted to pick up the pillow he had thrown and returned to lie down next to him. Deidara watched him stretch his legs out and rest his head on the pillow he replaced. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Yes," Deidara snapped having forgot in the delicious smelling calm Itachi had brought with him. He rolled over to stare stubbornly at the ceiling. He felt Itachi's eyes on him, debating something in his head, but he couldn't tell what it was. He felt him shift as he swallowed and looked away, changing his mind. Deidara's curiosity got the better of him. "What? Just say it."

Itachi took a moment to answer, chewing on his lip. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely passing his lips and his words were Japanese, instead of the English and German he had been practicing. "Don't … make me your puppet," he whispered, "like Sasori tried to make you."

Bristling, Deidara turned to stare at him, startled by the comment. Even for a regular person that was a shot below the belt. What Sasori had tried to do to him still affected him years after he broke away from the redhead. He had fought tooth and nail to escape his clutches and he still hadn't been free of him. He resented Sasori for trying to contain him. Was that how Itachi felt? Itachi turned his face away, body tense and uncomfortable. He hadn't wanted to say it because he knew it was a low blow and he hadn't meant it to be cruel. Itachi wasn't a cruel person.

"Fine, you don't need a chaperone, un."

"Deida—"

"No, I get it," Deidara said sharply, closing his eyes again. He could feel Itachi's rising tension next to him, but when he started to get up, Deidara grabbed his wrist. "No, don't go. I didn't mean it like that, un." He tried to sit up, to move closer, but his bones ached and his muscles crumbled. This was the extent of his movements tonight. He watched Itachi sigh and slowly lie back down. Deidara nudged him gently until he had Itachi's arm around his shoulders and he could snuggle into the warmth of him. His eyes tilted up to watch Itachi's face slowly relaxing. He was tired, Deidara realized. He had stayed up longer than he was used to. He watched him drift from thinking to the place between awake and asleep, then finally to sleep. Fascinated, he watched the shift from simply sleeping to dreaming. What was he dreaming about, he wondered… It did bother him that he couldn't see into his mind. He felt he should be able to, but maybe the connection between Human Servants and vampires was different from Makers and Made. Itachi had spoken to Tal, maybe he could offer some insight.

When Itachi's dreams seemed to stop, Deidara picked up the book again. When he finished, he flipped back to examine the illustrations that dotted the inside. Though it was a fictional book, he remembered the time period it was based off of, fought in the war that shaped the story, so it was fun to read an alternate version of it. Worlds like these sounded fun to him. He remembered much of that war. He wished it had the same materials the book did. Robots and fabrications… He'd definitely be fighting with the Allies. They had the airships and the flying creatures. After committing them all to memory, he picked Itachi's phone from his pocket and began browsing through it. Itachi didn't have any games on his phone, but had copies of his notes and translations up on the screen. Boring.

He was in the middle of ordering a new video game, when he felt it. A shift in the air. In the house's demeanor. He didn't need his old attachment to know Sasori had arrived. Any vampire could sense him. Sense his anger. He wasn't able to move enough yet to protect himself, but as Sasori came closer, even Itachi shifted uncomfortably in his sleep. That he was a Shadow Hunter explained why he was able to sense danger so well. It made Deidara nervous to see Itachi's instincts kicking in. Rolling over, he partially laid on top of the brunette to guard him as Sasori opened the door to the room.

The two of them stared at each other in silence for several of Itachi's heart beats. Sasori was the first to break the silence, his voice dangerously soft. "I suppose you're happy now?" was all he said. It was so strange to be so close to him and not feel any of the natural pull that Made had towards their Makers. The feeling – or lack thereof – made him speechless. Thankfully it was a rhetorical question. "I know it was him. What did he do?" he demanded.

"Bet it pisses you off that he could do it," Deidara replied, finding his voice and forcing a smirk on his face. "He's my Human Servant now."

"You are an idiot," was his Maker's growling reply.

The blond turned his nose up at him haughtily, but didn't relax. "You can't touch him, un."

"Reopen the link."

"No," Deidara replied, silently surprised that it would be he who had to reopen the link. Sasori probably had tried, but it never occurred to him that he would have a choice with anything to do with Sasori.

Sasori's eyes narrowed down at him. "Do it, or I will make you kill him."

Deidara's expression turned horrified as his body moved without his consent. Sasori held his hand out to him, fingers twitching as he made the blond sit up, hands creeping towards Itachi's stomach as Sasori whispered about seeing the insides of a Shadow Hunter. Before his scream of terror could come out, the threads snapped away, causing Deidara to collapse limply onto Itachi's torso. His human's eyes were open, fingers laced with the invisible strands the brunette could somehow see. Red flecked eyes met the honey ones in an intense stare down, but Itachi wasn't trying to challenge Sasori. He merely let the strands drop and brought his hand up to rub his eyes sleepily. "Please don't do that," was what he murmured, as he shifted onto his side, curled around Deidara with his back to danger. As if Sasori had simply slammed a door or something. "What time is it…?"

Startled by his casualness, Deidara sat up and stared at him. His body was his own again, no longer Sasori's and no longer chained by the sun. "The sun's almost set," he replied reaching to cover him with his coat since the blanket was in shreds. "Sleep some more, un."

"Get up," Sasori snapped before Itachi could respond, turning to stalk back down the hallway and up the stone stairs.

Itachi rubbed his eyes again and looked up at the blond. "I told you he didn't hurt me," he murmured sleepily. "Didn't kill me."

"I noticed," Deidara said, sitting back and watching him closely.

"Should I get up too?"

"No, no… you haven't slept enough, un," he said, patting his shoulder gently. "Unless you want to sleep in your bed."

"Here is fine."

"Okay… I'll arrange for Tal to come visit."

"Thank you."

And he fell right back to sleep. Deidara watched him a few minutes longer, but knew Sasori would be impatient and probably not so forgiving if he had to come back down if Deidara kept him waiting much longer. When he was sure Itachi was sound asleep again, he got up and stopped in the kitchen to get breakfast. Sam was sitting at the long table, clutching a bowl of ice cream and visibly relaxed when she saw him. Sasori scared everyone.

"He's in the library," she told him, then seemed to mentally smack herself. No one knew the tie had been severed between them, naturally she would assume he already knew where Sasori was.

"Thanks," he told her anyway. He could follow his scent even if she hadn't told him. He gave her ribs a gentle poke that changed her nervousness into a giggle. "Hey, you know how I asked you to look into Itachi's family, un?"

"Yeah," she said, looking apologetic. "I can't seem to find anything on them at all…"

"I think," he began, "you'll need to look into Shadow Hunter families instead."

"Shadow Hunters?" she asked, her eyebrows climbing up her forehead. "Itachi's a Shadow Hunter?"

"Raised by humans," he replied quietly.

She was quiet for a moment, then looked thoughtful. "It's not going to be easy," she finally replied.

"I know, but I'm sure you can do it if it's possible," he said, grinning at her. "His mother was a Mage, if it helps."

"I'll do my best," she said, giving him a salute, then unlocking her tablet to make a note.

Satisfied, he filled his favorite cup with blood and heated it up. Instead of drinking it there, he walked the path to the library a few hallways and a staircase away. He wondered why he was in the library. Usually Sasori spent his time in one of the common rooms where there was a large television he could play games on and terrorize the general public, rather than using the smaller one that was in the library. He paused at the door and sniffed with a frown. This space had become Itachi's space and he found he didn't like there being other smells in here; an aggressive act on Sasori's part, he assumed. The redhead was sitting on one of the sofas in front of the library's television that Itachi never used, prepping a character in a video game. It definitely was an aggressive act then, because Sasori would have had to bring the consoles into the room from their place in the common room. The other vampires who lived in the castle were there, standing tense and unsure in the presence of a predator. His Maker was ignoring them, but they still acted as though he would spring on them if they moved wrong. The screen showed him curiously choosing options for his character: race, height, coloring, bone structure. When Deidara had started this game, he had been frustrated by how long it took to edit your character when he simply wanted to start the actual game, but Sasori was doing it with the utmost patience and detailed exploration. Sitting cross-legged with his elbows on a cushion resting on his lap, his Maker looked like an innocent boy; not a monster that terrified everyone in the room.

Deidara sent the vampires away, but didn't check to see if they had obeyed before climbing up to sit on the sofa next to him.

"Have you ever seen a dragon, un?" he questioned after Sasori started the actual game play.

"What?"

"A dragon. Have you seen one?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," Sasori muttered, thumbs clicking the buttons of the controller.

Puffing his cheeks in annoyance, Deidara flopped back in a slouch and finished the last of his blood. "You didn't answer, un," he informed him after a moment, placing the cup on the table.

"Shut up. You're distracting me."

"You're walking down a path."

"Don't question how I play."

Rolling his eyes, Deidara lounged back against the sofa again and watched the game. "Don't you have a console at your place, un?"

"No wifi," Sasori reminded him.

Deidara decided not to point out that he didn't need an internet connection to play the games Sasori enjoyed most. Every time he came over, he hogged all his video games. "Let's put a two-player in."

"No, I haven't played this game yet."

"Don't you want to play with me, Sasori-danna~" Deidara crooned, grinning at him.

"You cheat."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"When have I ever cheated, un?"

"You kicked me in the face when we were playing Street Fighter."

"That was twenty years ago," Deidara rolled his eyes.

"You cheat at football."

"We haven't played soccer since you were allowed to carry the ball to the goal, un."

"You cheat at 20 Questions."

"You cheat at 20 Questions, un!"

"It's not my fault I could read your mind."

Rolling his eyes again, Deidara elbowed him in the side only to get shoved off the sofa entirely. Making a lot of grumbling sounds, he climbed back to his spot and watched him play the game. Inching closer in case Sasori was going to shove him of the furniture again, the blond let them lapse into silence except for the soft plastic clicks of the controller in Sasori's hand. When he was finally right against him and Sasori made no threats on his life, he shifted until he head was in his lap with the redhead using his shoulder as an arm rest. Sasori was definitely upset. Whether it was due to possessive reasons or something else, Deidara couldn't tell. With Sasori it was always hard to tell. Even though he had wanted separation from his Maker almost immediately after it had been established, now that they were apart, he wasn't sure he liked it. Was it really something he only thought he wanted, or would it just take some time to get used to? It occurred to him suddenly that he had had the connection longer than he had been without it, doubtful it would only take a day or two to get used to its disappearance. Not knowing was Sasori was thinking was extremely frustrating for him. Not knowing what he was feeling was almost a little scary.

"Stop staring at me," Sasori said suddenly, breaking his train of thought.

"Sasori-danna."

"What?"

"Don't make me try to hurt Itachi again."

Sasori frowned at the screen, but only grunted in response.

"I'm serious," Deidara said, pursing his lips together. "Don't make me hurt him, un."

"I heard you."

"Promise."

"No."

"Why?" Dediara's eyes narrowed at him, angry at the unspoken threat.

"He's just a stupid human."

"He's not stupid, and he's not just a human. He's my Human Servant, un."

"You're an idiot."

"You're terrible at sucking up, you know," Deidara accused, prodding his side. Sasori spared him a brief glance before going back to his game without answering, so Deidara decided to elaborate. "You came to make me open our connection again, but you start out by threatening Itachi? _That_ was stupid. You know I wouldn't react well, what were you thinking, un?"

"If you don't open the connection, I will kill him."

'He's _lying_.' The crystal-clear voice in his head startled him out of the rage that had him about to attack Sasori. Itachi's voice had never sounded so clear, even when he spoke to him first.

 _'How do you know?'_ he asked back, settling down on the sofa again.

He felt Itachi shifting around, moving from being asleep and awake. The brunette must have sensed his anger in his sleep, stopping him from doing something very stupid. _'I don't know… because he didn't kill me? …I can just tell…'_ His voice was beginning to grow fuzzy as he woke up more, but Deidara smile at the sleepy sound of his voice until a hard pinch broke their connection and Deidara's concentration.

"I can tell you're talking to him," Sasori muttered. "it's rude.

"You're one to talk about being rude, un," Deidara grumbled. Sasori didn't reply, but continued to stare at the game without playing. Confused, Deidara watched him finally save his game and let his hand drop down on the cushions, the other limp over Deidara's knee. "Sasori-danna…?"

"Go put a two-player game in," he instructed, giving the blond another shove off the sofa.

Itachi arrived a little over a half hour later while both were still intently focused on the screen, controllers clicking madly. Deidara could smell the soap lingering from the shower he had taken and a brief glance showed that he'd have to get his hair trimmed soon, it was getting long. Itachi gave him a smile as he passed them without trying to disturb them and sat down at his desk to begin his studies. To Deidara's right, Sasori shifted from the position he had been frozen in, tilting his head to the side, then turn to glare angrily at the blond. Too late, he realized the redhead had instinctively tried to speak mind to mind with him and failed. He started to ask what it was, but Sasori twitched his fingers and made him push the wrong buttons on his controller and die.

"What the fuck!" Deidara roared. "Pot calling the kettle black! You are a damn cheat, un!"

"Don't blame others for your mistakes."

With an angry yell, Deidara tackled Sasori off the couch, wrestling with him on the floor to get his revenge. He felt Itachi's eyes on them, probably remembering the last time the two of them had fought, but this was only play fighting. Deidara wouldn't actually be that angry for Sasori making him lose, that would just be childish. It was fun to fight and wrestle with Sasori. No one else would fight with him. Too scared. It was fun play. At least, it was fun until Sasori grabbed his shirt and slammed him back down on the floor, using both his abilities and his strength to pin him down.

"Open the connection!" he snapped.

"Why?" the blond demanded.

"Because I said so."

"That's not a good reason, un!"

"I Made you; I command y—"

Deidara interrupted him by punching him in the face as hard as he could, half in anger, half in terror. The force knocked Sasori off of him and onto the floor, and Deidara scrambled away from him towards Itachi. The redhead didn't finish his command and for that, Deidara was grateful. He lay staring at the ceiling far away from himself, his eyes dark and revealing even less than usual. People told stories about Sasori, that he had been too strong for his Maker to control. Sasori never told the stories himself, but Deidara had tasted it when he had drunk his blood. His Maker had to force Sasori into submission with magical commands that bound Maker and Made together, but he never used it on Deidara for the same reason that Deidara never made his own vampires. Sasori hated it, hated what it did to him and for him to nearly try… Was he that desperate? It was so uncharacteristic of him and Sasori seemed to realize that as well, because he didn't retaliate from being punched. Instead, he stood up and returned the single player game to the console to play in solitary silence. Deidara finished moving back to Itachi, who was sitting still, adamantly staring at his laptop screed, pretending not to notice what was going on.

 _'I think… he's actually upset,'_ Deidara whispered in the privacy of his mind as he climbed up behind Itachi to wedge himself between his back at the stuffed chair.

 _'Perhaps,'_ was Itachi's fuzzy, non-committal response. _'You know him best… You heard me before?'_

 _'Yep, loud and clear!'_

 _'It's fuzzy again,'_ he murmured unhappily. _'I was asleep and had a sort of… half-awake-half-asleep dream and heard you two speaking to one another. Please don't fight in the library…'_

 _'Oh, I see how it is… Not worried for me, huh? Just your precious books, un.'_

 _'I di—… I didn't mean it like that…'_

 _'I'm just teasing.'_

 _'Oh… What made you so scared?'_

 _'Sasori tried to use magic to force me to open the connection, un,'_ Deidara answered, hugging him tighter with the attachment of a koala and turned to watch Sasori play his game. _'I don't know if I want to open the connection…'_

 _'Why?'_

 _'I'm worried he'll try to get to you, un.'_

 _'I'll be fine,'_ Itachi sounded completely confident in his head. Where the brunette had gotten the idea that Sasori wouldn't hurt him, Deidara wasn't sure, but it was ludicrous in his opinion. _'I think you miss him.'_

"What?" Deidara was so surprised, he spoke aloud.

"I can tell," Itachi said quietly, tapping his pen against his notebook. "I'm sorry I did it."

"Don't be," Deidara told him. Reaching around Itachi, he opened a new window and started searching for flights from Italy. He called Tal and gave him the formal invitation to come and purchased the ticket and emailed the information to Tal. "He'll be working with you for a few weeks, un," Deidara told him with a pat on the head.

"Thanks, Deidara," he said, smiling back at him.

"You two are disgusting," Sasori said as he approached the two of them, apparently done playing the game for the night. Deidara stuck his tongue out at him and hugged his human tighter. Itachi just sat there and continued to take notes from his textbook on the skeletal system as though he wasn't there. He knew Itachi wasn't ignoring them, just didn't know what to do except study.

A glance at Sasori let him see the redhead's eyes sweeping the papers Itachi had meticulously laid out for his studies including copies of hand drawn sketches of system. Analyzing him. Judging him. For once, Sasori didn't voice his judgement. "Let's go hunting," he said to Deidara instead.

"I fed last night," Deidara stated.

"I didn't."

Deidara gave Sasori an expression that his Maker didn't react to and knew he would have no choice but to go with him. He groaned loudly and rubbed his forehead against Itachi's shoulder. "I've had you almost a whole year and suddenly no one wants us to be around one another, un." Itachi looked back at him and gave him a small smile before pointing at the calendar on his screen to show that he had lessons with Grey in forty-five minutes. German. "Fine, fine," he grumbled, climbing over the chair and stood up. "Let's go."

Sasori gave him a once over. "Go change your clothes," he instructed.

"These are fine," Deidara grumbled, tugging at the hoodie he had been wearing for a few days. Sasori continued to stare at him and he threw his hands up in exasperation. "Fine," he repeated, storming towards the door, then whirled around again. "Don't you dare touch him, Sasori-danna!"

Sasori waved a non-committing hand at him, but didn't turn away from his human. Nervous, Deidara moved as quickly as possible, throwing himself into his room to pull new clothes on and rush back to the library. He was only gone three minutes at the most, but when he returned the air definitely had a sense that words had been exchanged between the two. What they were, he couldn't tell and it bothered him a lot. His connection was too new with Itachi to get anything from him and Sasori was still nothing.

Nudging and prodding Sasori to the door, he glanced back at Itachi, who gave him a little wave and went back to his school work.

"What did you say to him, un?"

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Because you're an asshole and Itachi's a nice person, un."

"You're not a nice person either," Sasori commented.

Deidara gave him a snide smirk and bolted out the door with Sasori hot on his heels. People didn't understand the two of them. No one alive, no one dead. They were Master Vampires. They were old. But they were also young. Trapped in the bodies of children that never age. They liked games and competitions. They liked to play. Other vampires were too scared of them to play. When the paranormal world grew too big, structure had to be forced on that world to keep the monsters in line. Despite the growing numbers of paranormal creatures, humans reproduced faster than them as prey generally did. There had to be rules put in place to keep them from being overrun by humans. Among vampires, there was now an age minimum for those who could be changed. Puberty had to be passed, mental stability shown. The council had decided on twenty being the lowest cut off; other countries could make their own determination. Anyone younger would be eliminated before they showed the signs of not being able to control their hunger and mind. Sasori and Deidara were the only vampires under that age and it was only because they were too strong to be killed.

'Unstable', 'unpredictable' was whispered at their backs, 'crazy', they would politely refuse to play with them for fear of the dangerousness of the game, or maybe winning and evoking their anger. Without each other they had no one. They braved the human and paranormal world together, alone. It was what bonded them together on top of their Maker-Made bomb. Deidara suspected it was one of the reasons Sasori had such a lapse of judgement and turned him so soon after finding him. For all his aggression, he secretly wanted a playmate. When they weren't tearing each other's throats out, they were the best of playmates. Together they played all types of games and invented their own; tag was their favorite though they called it 'cat and mouse'. The bizarre and often violent game had no rules and Sasori nearly always one. They chased and hunted one another before running into more satisfying pray.

Tonight they threw themselves into their senses, working together to track and herd the couple hiking in the wilderness of the woods. Off the trail, they hunted them to the point of exhaustion as Sasori had taught him, working their terror out until it seeped from their pores. They begged them to take the other, betraying one another in their fear. It did not save either of them. Deidara waited patiently while Sasori drank first, stretching his legs out over the fallen autumn leaves, resting against Sasori's back. Now that the fun of the hunt was over, Deidara's brain began to work again. He focused on the small movements Sasori made against him as he ate, not for enjoyment, only nourishment. The taste of blood no longer brought him pleasure.

"Sasori-danna?" he murmured.

"Hm?" He had finished eating and was playing with the lifeless bodies, making the hands move without touching them. It was rather creepy.

"Don't get mad…" Deidara began as he tucked his legs underneath him. Comfortable, but ready to spring up and run away if necessary. Sasori gave him a backwards glance of suspicion. If he had to say that, whatever followed was most likely going to make him mad. The blond didn't back down. He needed to know. "Are you lonely?"

Predictably, Sasori scoffed at him and stood up, breaking contact with him and walking away.

"I'm serious, Sasori!" Deidara called, hopping up and following after him. "Answer me, un! Why didn't you just tell me so instead of coming and threatening me, un?"

"Because you're sentimental and wrong."

Deidara scoffed and hurried to catch up with him. "I'm not wrong. You are, aren't you? If I was wrong you would have laughed at me and said I was stupid, un!"

"You are stupid."

"Just because we're not connected doesn't mean we're not friends anymo—"

"I am not your friend," Sasori turned to face him and Deidara automatically took a few steps away from the monster that lurked behind his mask of arrogance. "I am your Maker and you are my toy. We are not friends. You know why you're still alive."

Ten different retorts came to mind, but he held them all back. Some part of his brain was smart enough to be scared of this monster right now. There was a reason people whispered behind his back. Sasori was the reason for age restrictions of vampires, not Deidara. No one who challenged Sasori had ever survived, not even Sasori's own Maker. Deidara might push him, but he knew the line that couldn't be crossed. He waited, not making sarcastic comments about his Maker's lack of knowledge of social interactions. Not reminding him that he had no control over him anymore. Not reminding him that there would be no way of him ever tasting his blood again. He stood meekly, and hated himself for it, but without a challenge, the oldest psychotic monster he had ever met slid back into its cage and turned away, leaving Deidara staring after him, alone in the dark.


	17. The First Human Servant

"You must make him leave."

Deidara looked up from where he was carefully tapping gravel into a cardboard tube with confusion etched across his face. Confusion didn't transfer well to the Mad-Scientist attire he was wearing. Very little could harm a vampire, but there was a first time for everything. Plus, the goggles and gloves were fun to wear. The goggles were old and worn, from another time long forgotten, designed with a few interchangeable magnifying lenses that could be used for multiple situations. The current lenses were to protect his eyes in case something sparked a reaction to the powders. He could see just fine without the glasses, but he liked how they made him look crazy while handling explosives.

The male vampire before him stood with his arms crossed, his body leaning slightly away from him. The position showed that he wasn't challenging Deidara's decision to allow 'him' to be here, but was making a formal request to the Master of the City. Or was it a plea? It could be either depending on who the 'him' was. There were so many new people here these past few weeks it was difficult to tell who the 'him' was meant be. The newest edition was the werewolf pack who were walking a very thin line with the residential pack.

They had arrived last week. Twenty newcomers. Six sets of parents, seven children, and the Alpha. Dahlia Schaefer and Sam had both seemed surprised that two of the parents were human. Wolves apparently rarely took human mates, which was a surprise to Deidara because he knew the life expectancy of werewolf children was low and humans reproduced faster than paranormal creatures. Mikkel Clausen was a good Alpha, Jasper told Deidara, which he decided was high praise because Alphas rarely let another pack in their territory. The packs' human sides could coincide together easily, save for a few language barriers, though most of the adults spoke an old northern variety of German. The problem was the wolf side of the adults whose dominance issues caused frictions between the two packs. There were a few submissives in both packs who would calm the dominant ones, but they still seemed to think they all needed to compare dicks – or bra sizes, or whatever it was that women compared to see who was the baddest. They couldn't help it, it was just how weres were. Thankfully both Jasper and Mikkel were both very strong and very good Alphas, which kept the blood bath down to a fist fight that had been quickly broken up.

Though he hadn't said so outright, Itachi had been delighted to have more children in the castle. He could feel the lightening of his human's mood during the day that signified one of the children had come to him – the only human outside of the pack who lived in the castle who paid attention to them, which made Deidara feel less incline to make Itachi stay with him during the day. He liked to listen in while Itachi played with the children, wishing he could spent time in the sun with him.

If his vampire had meant the wolves, he would have said 'they' not 'him'. The other two…

"He's here on vacation, un," Deidara said vaguely.

"Not Herr Tal."

"Oh."

That, he really couldn't do anything about. Despite their confrontation two weeks ago, Sasori hadn't shown any indication of wanting to leave. Instead he stayed in the castle, lounging around playing video games and harassing the entire household both verbally – and sometimes physically. The redhead was treating himself like the king and anyone who didn't cater to him were made to. The werewolves quickly learned to avoid him when they smelled him close by after the Alphas realized it was nearly impossible to keep the packs at bay when Sasori found it amusing to push them. The new pack was assured that this arrogant vampire was not one that was around often and would hopefully leave very soon, but so far Sasori hadn't hinted anything of the sort. Strangely, the only people not receiving wrath and humiliation from the child vampire was Tal and Itachi. The Indian man only received a few unnecessary sarcastic comments, while the later only received them if he asked a question Sasori deemed foolish. Deidara didn't know why, but Sasori had got it in his head to aid in his human's studies. He assumed it was to have someone hanging on his every word, but Sasori seemed to be legitimately enjoying himself. Naturally, Deidara was suspicious.

"I can't make Sasori leave any more than you could, un," Deidara reminded him.

"He is making a menace of himself," the vampire insisted.

"You're welcome to tell him that yourself, un," the blond said with a grin. The man said nothing in response, just glared at him. There was only a thin level of trust between himself and the vampires who served him. "Where's Itachi?"

"Can't you tell?"

Deidara glared up at him, staring for a few extra seconds that always made people uncomfortable. The vampire gave him a confused expression at his staring. Pointing a tube of explosives at him, he ignited the wick and shot the rocket at him, smirking as the vampire scrambled out of the way with an undignified yelp. "I was being polite," Deidara growled at him. "Go away."

When he was alone, Deidara set his work carefully down on the table before turning his attention inward, quietly calling to Itachi.

 _'Yes?'_ the brunette's voice was growing clearer in his mind with each passing day. Whatever the two Human Servants were doing seemed to be working.

 _'Where are you?'_

 _'Bringing the kids in for dinner,'_ Itachi replied. There was a pause and a slight widening of their connection and felt the cool autumn breeze on his face and the sound of children talking. _'Afterwards, Tal and I are going to the city to practice in a noisy place…'_

 _'You don't sound pleased.'_

 _'I don't like noisy places… and you said not to leave at night without you.'_

 _'How in the world did you survive in Tokyo?'_ Deidara laughed to himself as Itachi began protesting about the politeness of the Tokyo inhabitants and how the noise level in Japan was a different kind of noise than the kind he had experienced in Europe. _'I'm teasing… come visit me when you come back?'_

 _'I will. What are you doing?'_

 _'Testing some new art.'_

 _'You're painting?'_

 _'No, fireworks.'_

 _'…In the house?'_

 _'Where else would I do it?'_ Deidara grinned outwardly at Itachi's obvious flare of doubt at his decision to handle explosives within the castle. Itachi was, of course, too polite to tell him so, since the property was Deidara's. ' _Hey, Itachi? Do you think a vampire could survive in space?'_

There was a long pause on Itachi's end. He could tell he was walking through the castle to the southernmost wing where the Denmark werewolves were living. It was confusing to feel Itachi's relief along with his own emotions. Despite the length of time he had spent in the castle, Itachi had still been isolated from the others and it was through the werewolves that he had found his niche in the paranormal world. Itachi enjoyed spending time with the children and through them had developed relationships with both packs. He was a little disappointed that it had been with the werewolves and not the vampires, but he supposed werewolves didn't seem like monsters when they had children and acted more human than vampires did. He listened to Itachi tell the kids to wash their hands as they walked into the large kitchen where some of the parents were cooking a meal large enough for a small pack.

 _'I'm going to say … 'no','_ Itachi finally replied, after greeting the parents and apologizing that he couldn't stay for dinner. _'Even though you don't need to breathe, I think the pressure would hurt you. There is the sun, too. You wouldn't have the atmosphere to shield you from it. Plus, you wouldn't be able to easily feed.'_

Deidara looked down at his work with a frown. Well, that sucked.

 _'Sorry.'_ "Ready?"

Itachi's voice was both in their heads and also spoken aloud and through Itachi's perspective, he could feel Tal close by, Itachi's pleasure at seeing his friend rising and the nervous excitement he always had when he was about to try something new. Deidara smiled to himself, enjoying these little insights to his mind.

 _'Have fun,'_ he murmured before he thinned the connection again, giving Itachi privacy.

Itachi had paused when Deidara spoke to him as he buttoned his coat again and Tal noticed and paused as well. "Sorry, Deidara said something to me," he told him, rewrapping the scarf that had been unraveled by Felix, the youngest of the Danish wolves, when he had climbed up to ride on Itachi's back.

"It's alright," Tal said as they walked down to the garage where one of the drivers was waiting to take them into the city. They sat in the back seat and the human started the car to pull them out to leave the property. "How are your connections becoming?"

"Much clearer," Itachi told him, buckling his seatbelt and adjusting his coat. "Forty-three percent of the time, I can contact him myself clearly. Sixty-two percent of the time, Deidara can hear me calling to him. Eighty-seven percent of the time, when Deidara initiates contact, it's clear. It's been steadily rising since you came." Tal gave him a strange smile, but only nodded encouragingly. Deidara laughed at him for being specific too, but it made him feel more control so he didn't care if anyone thought it was strange. "I've been having really vivid dreams, too."

"About Deidara?" Tal asked, then smiled. "They're his memories. I used to have Kali's in my dreams." He looked out at the passing scenery, though in the dark there was nothing to see. "They wear off after a short while… Well, I suppose by your reckoning, it's a long while. To me, it feels like a short time. Perspectives alter as you age."

Itachi hurriedly looked out the opposite window, feeling oddly embarrassed to see the expression on his friend. The kind faced man from India looked so grim and sad, yet hopeful at the same time. The relationship he had with his vampire, Kali, was close; he could tell by the way he said her name. He wanted to know more about her, about their relationship, but wondered if asking would be painful for the man. "You…" he closed his eyes then raised enough courage to turn so that he could face him properly. "You loved her?"

"Love," Tal corrected. "I love her, then and now. And her me… Even though vampires are so strong, their bodies are still human bodies. They are not like were creatures who are born to their changes. As they age, very little of their humanity stays with them, unless they attach themselves to a human in some way. Even subordinates, who are kept in a menagerie so that a vampire doesn't have to hunt as often. Very few choose to live entirely alone because the loss of their humanity makes them feel like beasts and vampires are prideful creatures." He paused a moment, leaning back as he stared at the seat in front of him, but looking at something else. "Kali came one night to watch a musical performance that I participated in, in the garden of a rich man. She was so beautiful. I saw her among the audience and hoped that she would approach me afterwards and she did. We spoke for hours into the night about music and philosophy… and then she left me. I didn't understand for weeks. She came to me nearly every night. We talked, and danced. I came to long for her as I never had longed for a person, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, and I knew she felt the same." His smile grew, taking a deep breath and letting out in a slow, happy sigh as the memories filled him. "She told me what she was one night, but I didn't care. We continued our meetings and our love grew strong. She was scared for me, she didn't want me to age and die, leaving her alone again, but she didn't want to change me into a vampire. She knew it would kill me. I don't enjoy bringing harm; I have devoted my life to music and art, to the peaceful times, to the beauty that lives in every organism. She knew I wouldn't be able to feed off of humans… so she found another way to allow me to stay with her forever."

Itachi started in surprise, sitting up a little straighter. "You…" he paused, uncertain whether he would sound stupid for suggesting it. "You were the first Human Servant?"

"I was," Tal replied, looking over at him with a smile. "How did you know?"

"I read about it," the brunette replied, staring at him in a new awe. This was difficult for him and he had help from people who understood what he was going through. He couldn't imagine what it was like to experience this blindly. "Deidara had stolen a book from a Mage to keep you safe, but I didn't know it was you…" The names had been transcribed into katakana, he remembered 'Kari' and 'Ataru'… Kali and… "Atal."

"That is my full name," he said with a nod. "But I find 'Tal' is more suitable."

Itachi thought for a moment, then swallowed. "What happened to her? To Kali?"

"As I said, vampires are amazingly strong, but their bodies are human. They can be harmed, but they also heal very rapidly, especially if they have enough blood. Most of the lore on vampires that humans have is utter nonsense – garlic, stakes, crosses, those things don't work at all." He rubbed his short-cropped beard for a moment, then gave Itachi a serious expression. "I would appreciate if you would be discrete about this. The less people know about these things, the less danger our friends will be in. Not even many vampires know of these things."

Itachi nodded in response, glancing at the driver in the front as he shifted to lean closer. Was he trustworthy? Deidara never seemed to hold information back when they were being driven anywhere. Tal didn't even glance at the man to see if he was listening. People who were considered servants weren't often considered past their position… However, Itachi reasoned with himself, the humans who were the servicers of the castle were the humans of the other vampires who lived with them, paid for their work because Deidara didn't like humans treated like slaves. They wouldn't betray their own vampires.

"Deidara told you about Kali's disease, correct?"

"Yes… he said she had become 'bloodstarved'," Itachi replied. "And she left to keep you safe."

Tal nodded, that bitterly sad smile coming over his features again. "He is correct, but how do you think a vampire catches such a disease?"

"I … I don't know… Magic?"

Tal's eyebrows rose as though he were impressed. "Most people think it comes only from the inability to control their feedings," he told him. "It is common among newly Made vampires who do not have a Maker who is able to properly teach or control them. It is rare for older vampires, but not unheard of. It was not the case for Kali. She was in control, and had been for many decades, but she was stabbed with a blade laced with poison meant for a vampire during one of her travels outside of the Court in Rome."

"Poison?"

"Magic," he told him. "I don't know the components of the poison, except that it had blood mixed into it… old blood, a dead man's blood. I smelled it through Kali when she was attacked. She closed me off, so I wouldn't feel the pain, but it caused her to slowly be unable to control her hunger. She nearly killed me before she stopped herself. In a moment of clarity, Kali entrusted me to her friend – to Deidara – to keep me safe from the people who had poisoned her and to supply me with vampire blood. Human subordinates, like those living in Deidara's castle, need vampire blood to stay strong and live long. Without it, they age quickly and die… Humans are not meant to live so long. I am old, but I am a Human Servant, so old age doesn't touch me as it touches subordinates. Still, I would begin to age slowly without blood."

"It was a Shadow Hunter, wasn't it?" Itachi guessed with certainty.

"It was."

"I'm so sorry, Tal," he said, sincerely.

Giving him an appreciating nod, Tal leaned back in his seat once more. "My _priyatam_ will return to me one day," he said with a smile.

Itachi didn't know what the foreign word meant, but could put the obvious hints together to understand it was a term of endearment. "I would like to meet her one day," he said with a smile.

"I would like for you to meet her as well. She will be delighted by your curiosity," Tal told him with a smile. "Today, we'll be working on being in your own head again. You said you can get into Deidara's mind with him, but can't do the same for yourself. What the inside of your mind looks like is entirely unique to yourself. It is something close and personal, a reflection of yourself and your past. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, sometimes it will seem completely perfect…sometimes it changes over the years, but it is always yours and cannot be easily influenced by others. Understand?"

"Yes," Itachi said, sitting up straighter, ready to learn. "Thank you for driving us," he said to the man at the wheel.

"Not a problem, sir," the human said with a smile. "Please phone me when you're ready to go home."

"Why does it change?" Itachi asked as they walked down the street.

"Because you change. Often, the first mind place is something you choose it to be, something you envision it as… as you become used to being in your head, it expands and evolves to fit you."

"Can normal humans do this too?" he asked.

"Yes, they can," Tal replied as he opened the door to a bustling restaurant and waited for the hostess to seat them. "But it takes years of training and practice. It is easier for us because of our connection with our vampires and… well," he smiled a little as the man dressed in a black uniform asked them to follow him, "we are not entirely human anymore."

The waiter led them to a two-person table and offered them menus and glasses of water. Itachi took the seat against the wall out of habit to be able to see anything approaching. Tal requested appetizers from the man as they settled in their chairs

"One thing that is consistent is that it is not something you should think hard on either," Tal told him. "Something natural… you don't have to tell me."

The Middle Eastern restaurant seemed to be the place to hang out after a night of drinking. College students and career people munching on hummus and grape leaves, stuffing their faces with pita and lamb. It was noisy and Itachi hated it. He hadn't even started to try and concentrate and he felt a headache coming on, which was a common place for him now.

"I know it's noisy," Tal said, apologetically. "Just try to block them out. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing like we do at home to meditate. Let it come naturally to you."

Taking a deep breath, Itachi closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. The two of them had been having these sessions since Tal's arrival. Breathing exercises that helped him remove the clutter of his mind that was aided and abetted by Deidara's, meditation that created a mental bubble around himself that blocked out distractions and Deidara. In addition, with Tal's help, Deidara had picked out a martial arts studio for him to begin his lessons. Every evening, Itachi traveled to the city to attend the class – something he was enjoying far more than he expected. After a few days, he began jogging back to the castle instead of calling a ride – Deidara wasn't pleased about it, but had concluded he wouldn't be able to stop him. It took almost an hour for him to jog home, but he felt amazing afterwards. Exhausted, but amazing. When he finished showering and changing his clothes, Tal was waiting for him in the library. They spent another hour talking and doing the breathing exercising together. It seemed stupid at first, sitting and breathing, but he began to enjoy it. It made him relax, it made him sit still when Deidara's personality made him want to move. He never felt so calm before in his life, with all his anxieties falling away; it even helped him focus on his studies which he did when Sasori wandered in.

Sasori's lectures on anatomy was frightfully detailed, but when his lectures on history were different. Rather than details, they were in story format and Itachi asking questions. The redhead still frightened him, but he found his fascination with him growing. He knew and remembered so much history, but also seemed to fixate on strange things in his stories like a chicken that no one seemed to own that wandered around a town in France, or a popular lullaby that was sung by what seemed like every mother, or the details of a specific game he witnessed. When Deidara became bored with the stories, he would pull Itachi away to feed him dinner and they would work with Deidara's council or anything else that came up. He still had lessons with Grey, and studied alone, but he went to every meeting Deidara had. When there were no meetings, Deidara would drag him out to play or try to get him to watch a movie – which was usually a futile attempt because Itachi couldn't understand the enjoyment of sitting through two or so hours of a movie when he could be doing something productive. He played with the wolf children as much as possible during the day, an exercise in itself. His schedule was full and he loved it.

Being inside his head was harder than he thought. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Imagine the inside of his head? Let it float to him as naturally as the shared space between Deidara and him? It never came to him like that. Focusing too hard on anything made it difficult to meditate. Instead, he simply began breathing like Tal usually started them off. He counted each breath, each exhale. It took longer than usual. All the noise around him was distracting. Slowly, he was able to block out the sounds of socializing and clear his mind. What would the inside of his mind be like? Deidara's was a claustrophobic warehouse, brightly colored, but dark and chaotic in the brightness. Tal said a mind's image was something personal. A locked door, darkness… Deidara's mind was the image of his human past in a way, just altered. What sort of place would he have? How would he try to go about the impossible task of keeping his thoughts in order, if he could?

He'd use a library.

He opened his eyes and he was not in the restaurant. He could still hear the sounds, but they were muffled, as though he were hearing them from a different room. Just faint sounds that seemed to come through the windows. It was nearly a crime against nature, but the books were stacked and scattered haphazardly all over. The floor, the shelves, the desk, the steps. He reached out and picked up the one on his desk. It had no title, but when he opened it, he found himself reading a memory without words – going to the restaurant with Tal, sitting down with him. Interesting. He set the book down and turned in a slow circle to observe the room. It was the castle's library. He smiled. That made perfect sense. The door that led to the hallway was there in its normal place, and out of curiosity, he opened the door. There was nothing behind it. Not a wall, not a hallway, not light or dark, just nothing. Yet he knew that beyond it was Deidara.

He slowly sank to the floor, staring at the nothing as he tucked his legs underneath himself. This was such a strange, yet relaxing series of events. All this work to get in his own head. All this work to sit here and feel Deidara's presence resonating just outside the door to his mind. The workouts, the training; he loved it like he never thought he would. He was a scholar, not a fighter. He didn't like hurting people, so he never thought of even trying it. This wasn't hurting anyone and he wasn't learning to fight, he was learning to defend himself, to relax, to be fit and be in his own body, as Tal called it. It only took a few days of training and meditating for the dreams to start.

He had dreamed about Deidara before, but they had been after consuming his blood. These were different. Those were memories Deidara remembered in some way, but some of these were ones he didn't. His favorite so far was one of those dreams. In it he watched and also was Deidara, as dreams tended to be. Shifting from one point of view from the other as seamless as a movie camera. The young child Deidara ran through the house on bare feet, launching himself into the arms of a waiting woman. The warmth of her arms made him feel safe as she sat him on her lap and sang to him as she pulled his shoes on so they could go to the market together. It was so simple, so innocent, but Itachi liked it a lot. Others weren't always so pleasant, but as they were Deidara's memories, most of them left him with a feeling of dark amusement. Deidara had the sense of humor of a psychotic adolescent who had seen more than any child should and done more than anyone should without a care in the world. He often dreamed about the asylum, but Deidara, who could sense his dreams, would always wake him up before they got too bad. Sasori appeared in many of them, displaying his cruelty, but also the strange companionship that the two shared. Itachi preferred to dream Deidara's happy memories.

"Deidara?" he called softly into the empty void.

"I hear you," the blond's voice came clear as if he was standing right there.

"I made it into my head," he told him, pleased with himself. "Like you can, but… it's difficult. I don't know how long I can concentrate."

"Awesome," Deidara sounded happy, he could practically see his face. Placing his hand where the nothingness began, he felt warmth, as though Deidara's hand was resting their too. He could feel, but not see fingers wrapping around his own. He could feel him sitting in his mind against the door they shared. Eventually, he'd be able to let him in. He felt happy, with Deidara close by, but a sudden sound distracted him and broke his concentration and suddenly he couldn't grasp it again.

"I lost it," he said, aloud as he opened his physical eyes to glare over at the group of laughing drunks. "But I had it for a little while."

Tal smiled at him, eating whatever he had ordered while Itachi was concentrating. "Good," he encouraged. "This is what I want you to be able to do every time you meditate. You go to that place, and do the same thing. It's like … double meditation. Once you can do it naturally without meditating, you can invite Deidara in with you, but not before… it can be disastrous if you slip out of that place with Deidara still in there with you."

"I understand," Itachi said, reaching out to take a sip of his water. "Deidara also keeps asking to spend more time in the space we share together…"

"Be careful not to spend too much time that mind space. Every so often is fine, but it can be damaging if you do it too much before you learn to control your own mind at will," Tal said in a serious tone. "But I understand what he would want to go there… It is very relaxing to be outside your own mind, in a place of peace with someone you care for."

"Yeah, it is… Can I… ask what your space… looks like?" Itachi ventured with uncertainty. Perhaps it was too sensitive a question. "With Kali? With us it's like… we're in a pool under water."

Tal smiled and closed his eyes with a nod. "It is a garden. There are roses, fountains with moss covered statues… the air tastes like old India... spices and heat… it is wonderful."

"I'm sorry," Itachi apologized, looking away. "I hope you get to go there again soon. It sounds beautiful compared to mine."

"Don't apologize for asking a question. It is not a matter of aesthetics, but how the place makes you feel when you are inside it. It is the same with Deidara's mind, you found it stressful and chaotic, but it works for Deidara's mind. There have been many studies about humans and water, perhaps it is simply the space that the two of you need at this moment," Tal explained, cleaning his hands with his napkin. "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom."

Itachi nodded and sat back in his seat, picking at the remaining piece of pita and dipping it into the hummus to eat. He wasn't very hungry, but perhaps he should order something to take home and store for later. The foreign menu items were very disconcerting. Perhaps instead he'd let Tal suggest what to order to go to eat later. He felt someone approaching his table and looked up in hopes that it was his friend, but froze. Before him stood the Shadow Hunter who had shot at Deidara and him, but the man's hands were held up in a 'stay calm' gesture and no weapons. Itachi, however, did not stay calm and tried to find the connection to Deidara.

"Please," the man told him, distracting his concentration. "Please don't be alarmed. Don't call your friend back. I just want to talk to you."

"Last time I saw you, you shot at me," Itachi said, reaching for a knife or something sharp on the table. Some form of weapon, though he doubted he could do much against someone who killed people for a living. He had a feeling that when he said not to call his friend, he meant Tal, but doubted he knew about his ability to call Deidara with his mind. He had no doubt the vampire would come instantly, btu the way the man stood made him pause for a moment. Let logic run his brain instead of panic. There were no red flags… just orange.

"That bullet wouldn't have hurt you," the man insisted, standing back as if he were afraid he'd spook Itachi and cause him to leave. "It's Magicked so it only hurts Dark Siders. It goes right through other people like a ghost."

"How do you know my name?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Beca—… because it's you, Itachi," the man replied, giving a gesture of helplessness. "When we were kids, we were friends. We were supposed to be partners, but then your family was attacked and you disappeared… I'd know you anywhere."

Itachi stared at the man, wondering if he was telling the truth or not. He didn't recognize him, not even a tiny glint of familiarity, but much of his memories had been blocked out from his childhood prior to their deaths. He remembered his family, he supposed, but nothing passed that. He had read about psychological blockages people used to subconsciously block their minds, but he suspected it was also the spell. Deidara couldn't remember much of his early life, even before he was human, but Itachi could dream them for him. Deidara couldn't dream. The man looked close to his age, but that didn't mean anything. Whether he was sincere or not, something very strong was stopping him front even considering what he was saying. He wondered if it was the Deidara-ish part of him, but after considering it, knew that it was all himself.

"Please leave," he told him curtly.

"You have to listen to me," the man insisted, his voice quickening. "That blood sucker's got you brain washed."

"No, he doesn't," Itachi replied coldly. "Don't insult my friend again, please. I might have been born into a Shadow Hunter's family, but I am not one of them. I don't shoot people without question, and I do not kill innocent children. Deidara told you to leave his city. You shouldn't have come back. I'm not leaving with you and I'm not leaving him."

"He doesn't own this city, jus—"

"Regardless of who owns the city," Tal said softly from behind the man. Itachi couldn't see it, but he suspected by the way the man froze there was a weapon against his back. "Itachi asked you to leave."

"You're human," the man observed as he glanced back.

"I am."

"Tch… a foodbank."

"I am no such thing," Tal informed him with acute authority. "Nor is Itachi. I am not bound by any agreement between Vampires and Shadow Hunters, so there would be no consequence for my blade severing your spine."

"Get that off my back," the Hunter growled, then looked at Itachi. "Itachi, I'm telling the truth. That's how you heard me calling you. We were supposed to be partners. Our kind travels in pairs. You don't belong here. Not with _them_. They don't know you're still here in Germany – my superiors, if I told them you were they'd swarm the place. Just come with me. You belong with us."

"I decided where I belong," Itachi proclaimed in a soft, yet firm tone.

The man stared at him for a long time. Disappointed. That was the expression on his face. He wondered why that was. Finally, the man straightened his jacket and stepped away. "If you change your mind," he said placing a card down on the table then backed away from them with his hands in the air.

When the door shut behind him, Tal slid his hand into the inside of his jacket, stowing away a knife Itachi hadn't known he owned back into its sheath. He was giving him a look he didn't like as Itachi swiped up the card and stuck it in his pocket before he could look at it. "I didn't know you were a Shadow Hunter," Tal said softly as he sat down.

"I'm not," Itachi insisted, clenching his fists. "I was raised by humans. I'm Deidara's human… I'm not a Hunter."

"Of course, sorry," Tal murmured, shaking his head.

Itachi swallowed, suddenly feeling sick. Kali had been attacked by a Hunter just like that man, he couldn't imagine what it felt like being close to one. He wasn't a Hunter. He was human. He was an orphan raised in foster homes, unwanted by anyone until Deidara. Deidara was his family and home. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"No, no, don't be," Tal murmured, relaxing a little after taking a deep breath. "Was that the Hunter that shot you and Deidara?"

"Yeah," he replied, quietly. He pulled the card out to examine it. It had a name and number on it with a symbol stamped on the other side. "Tal?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell Deidara about this."

"This is important, if a Shadow Hunter is moving in his territory," Tal said with a serious expression.

"I know, but… Please, Tal. He'll never let me out of his sight again," Itachi begged. "I'll be careful, but please don't tell him."

Tal stared at him intently for a long time before sighing and running his hands over his face and hair. "Alright… but Hunters are a serious threat. To us, and to our friends. I don't say that because I have something personal against them. They are dangerous. Whatever he wanted, there is a motive behind it."

"I understand, I'll be careful," he said with a nod. He looked down at the card, committing the name and number to memory. Just in case, it wouldn't hurt to have it. He stared at the symbol, wondering what it was, then turned it around to look at the name again.

Kisame Hoshigaki.


	18. Tales of Halloween

In these outskirt cities, people forget why they keep their shops open late into the night. They forget why they paid extra tax each month. They forget why they hang iron scissors over their infant's cradles. They forget why they keep extra salt in their pantries and even the most skeptical will toss some over their shoulders. They think they keep certain talismans in their house because it reminds them of their parents and grandparents, but they forget what the talismans are for. The city had changed from a small village, to a bustling town, to a high rising city over the course of a few hundred years, yet its people remained true to the pagan tradition their ancestors practiced despite the aggressive Christian conquers. The city was a hub of human, transhumans, and paranormal. Not only by vampires, but hundreds of other species lived here, too. They lived among humans evolving with the times while still keeping to their ancient ways. All Hallows Eve was an important to the humans as it was to the paranormal as a way of connecting them all.

"It is believed that the veil between this world and the next becomes thin and weak on All Hallows Eve, now shortened to Halloween. It was once the last day of the last harvest before winter set in, so it – along with the winter and summer solstice is a very powerful, magical night. It is also a time of cleansing, a time to start anew, and a time to prepare to rest during the cold winter months. Spirits powerful enough to slide through the veil and people foolish enough can fall trap to it, so humans aligned themselves with witches to protect themselves and their kin from things that might be hungry.

"Of course, that information has been muddied by the uprising of religion. In the name of a god, the people who reached out to save were hunted down, tortured, mutilated, and killed by those they once helped. Thus, the title 'witch' became a word of mockery and a death sentence when it had once been a word of health and good fortune. Thousands of innocent human and witch women were accused of witchcraft and killed in such a way, with and without proof. Many old families of witches were decimated and Halloween was dubbed a holiday for Satan by the church."

"That's sad," Itachi said quietly.

"History often is," Sasori replied, leaning back against the overstuffed chair by the fireplace that radiated warmth from its embers. Sasori always sat in that chair, he seemed to enjoy the heat and the position of strength it gave him to anyone who walked into the room. "What humans don't understand is what they fear the most."

"I always thought that death is what people feared the most," Itachi mused softly, twirling his pen between his fingers from where he sat in his own stuffed chair by his desk.

"It is not death itself that is feared," Sasori interjected. "You, yourself, have looked death in the face, yet you didn't fear it. The idea of death might be terrifying to some and they try to run from it, however, others may greet death as an old friend and depart the world as equals." Sasori gave a small grin as if he had made a joke, then raised and dropped one shoulder. "As the story goes."

"What story?" Itachi asked curiously.

The redhead blinked and that creepy grin – Sasori could only do creepy smiles apparently – faded abruptly. "The… The Tale of the Three Brothers," he stammered out, looking thoroughly confused by his question.

"What brothers?"

"…How did you manage to find the dumbest human in the entire world?"

"He's not dumb at all," Deidara said, grinning down at him from where he sat listening above Sasori on the second-floor balcony.

"He doesn't know Harry Potter."

Flushing, Itachi glanced at the two of them then muttered, "I did see the first movie with Rose."

Sasori scoffed at him as though he had said something offensive and gave Deidara a dark look, but the blond only smiled ear to ear at the two of them. "I thought you were supposed to be some crazy reader," Sasori muttered at him, then waved his hand to silence Itachi when he tried to protest he didn't read much fiction. "Anyway, it's not important. Death is not what people fear. What they fear is the unknown. Even people of religion who think they know still doubt themselves over what is _after_ death. They kill things because they are _unknown_."

"I see… that's interesting," Itachi commented, making a note in his book. "So vampires celebrate Halloween, too?"

"Yes," both vampires said in unison. They glared at one another for a moment before Sasori continued to speak. "Our senses and power gets stronger for unknown reasons. If we have humans in our nests, it is prime time for them to drink our blood. I'm sure you two will have something stupid to do. The wolves will be out, too; the moon will be just passed full."

"There's a festival here," Deidara said, leaning over the banister. "Most of Germany doesn't really celebrate Halloween – it is really an American holiday now, but this city does. It's much better. It's much funner, un! Cause we have so many different paranormal creatures living here. Streets get blocked off and there's food and games and music and then at night, the humans dance with the spirits." He waved his fingers in a mock spooky manner, but his grin was wide.

"That sounds like fun," Itachi smiled up at him. He hadn't been to a festival since he had allowed a girl at school to take him to a cherry blossom festival one spring in Tokyo. "Will we be going?"

"Duh," Deidara swung his legs over the bannister then hopped down onto the back of Sasori's chair with the grace of a cat, balancing carefully before sliding down next to the redhead. "We'll start carving pumpkins soon! Wes grows them in the garden for us to carve, un!" He gave Sasori a nudge. "Tell him about pumpkin lore!"

"You need to calm down, idiot," Sasori growled softly, prodding the excited blond's side trying to claim his chair for himself again, but Deidara just swung his legs over Sasori's and looked at him with rapt attention. With an aggravated sigh, Sasori complied, folding his arms over his chest. "Do you know what a will-o'-the-wisp is?" he asked Itachi.

Itachi thought for a moment, then shook his head. Whenever Sasori spoke to him, it was always in Japanese. He suspected – and Deidara said it was a plausible theory – that Sasori had agreed to teach Itachi, no one else, so he spoke only in a language Itachi understood. The only issue was when they spoke about things that existed outside of Japan, the pronunciation was a little off. "I don't think so," he finally replied.

"It's a kind of _hitodama_ ,' Deidara interjected in German with the Japanese word.

"Oh… a ghost?" Itachi confirmed, writing down the new term in his book.

When he looked up, Sasori was giving Deidara another dark look, trying to shove the stubborn blond's legs off of his own unsuccessfully. "Do you want to tell it?" the redhead grumbled, adjusting the sleeves of his black and green plaid shirt.

"No, you tell stories better, un," Deidara answered him sincerely, glancing at Itachi with a twinkle in his eye.

"Then shut the hell up," Sasori snapped. "It's not just a ghost. Ghosts are spirits that haven't passed on to whatever is next. In European countries, a will-o'-the-wisp is supposedly the soul of a person who is unwanted in both heaven and hell. There's a lot of stories behind it. The most common tale tells of a man named Will who made a deal with the devil: his soul in exchange for his bar tab. One day, the devil comes to claim the debt, but the man plays a trick on the devil. He gets the devil to climb a tree and, while he's up there, carves a crucifix in the trunk. The devil can't cross the line of the crucifix, so in exchange for his released, he tells Will that he will not take his soul. But the man is too cruel a person and when he dies, he is denied passage into heaven. He traveled instead to hell to ask for a place there, but the devil reminded him that he had promised not to take his soul. He does, however, give Will a coal from the pits of hell, which Will placed inside a carved turnip to light his way through the twilight world where souls that are condemned are doomed to roam for all eternity, often luring travelers away from their paths with the light from his ember. Other stories have called the man 'Jack', which is where 'Jack-o'-lanterns' come from."

"A turnip?" Itachi asked with a twinge of amusement. That detailed startled him out of his rapt attention to the story.

"They were the most common root vegetable used at the time," Sasori said with stone-faced seriousness. "Pumpkins are native to North America."

"Oh," Itachi replied, trying to bring his attention back to the story. Sasori had an easy voice to listen to when he wasn't being egotistical, it was soft and pulling. Deidara was right that his Maker told stories better; the blond tended to get side tracked when he told stories and used sporadic hand gestures instead of flowing words. "So why do people carve pumpkins on Halloween?"

"When the pilgrims traveled to America, they brought tradition of carving turnips with them," Sasori continued. "Pumpkins are bigger and easier to carve. The pumpkins have, since then, taken on a new meaning. In the same situations as iron scissors and salt, they are believed to be old protections given to humans by the healing, helpful witches. During Halloween night, when the veil is thin, Demons are said to slip through with the spirits. Demons are supposedly very possessive, so if one has already claimed a house, the others will stay away. The jack-o'-lanterns give the appearance of a demon already inhabiting a house, so they're supposed to scare away other demons. It's believed that the carved face with a candle inside will look like the spirits, or maybe even Will himself so they will leave you alone."

"That's interesting," Itachi repeated, leaning forward a little in his chair. "Does it work?"

Sasori gave a dramatic shrug. "I don't know. I've never seen a spirit."

"Me neither," Deidara said with a fake pout.

"What about demons?" Itachi asked. "Have you met any?"

Both boys shrugged identically in unison, though Deidara had more of an expression than Sasori did. It was creepy sometimes how similar, yet different they acted sometimes. When Itachi watched them play video games, they both had the same intensity, but Deidara seemed to think that moving the controller aided in his play, while Sasori sat unmoving save for his thumbs. Deidara talked to the TV during a movie, while Sasori waited until the end to give his opinion. Clearly, for all their arguing and fighting, they were incredibly good friends. Despite the fact that Deidara continued to explain how much he had wanted to be separated from Sasori, Itachi still felt bad for breaking the connection out of his own frustrating failure.

"That doesn't mean they don't exist," Deidara commented. "Really strong magic is what's used to summon a demon, so they're only ever said to be around aggressive witches. But Shadow Hunters believe in them. They never go anywhere without salt."

"Actually," Sasori mused, tapping Deidara's knee in thought. "I have met a half-demon once. He was half witch, half demon."

"Really?" Deidara asked, looking at him curiously. "I've never heard of one before."

The redhead mused quietly to himself, exhaling suddenly with a soft hum. "I suppose you wouldn't remember, it was when you were still human," he said to the blond. "He tried to kill you and take you from me."

Itachi could sense Deidara's surprise and confusion at Sasori's statement. His interest in the traditions of the upcoming holiday was instantly overwhelmed by curiosity about Deidara's past. Sasori seemed to come out of his own thoughts and looked from one to the other, then glared at them. "You," he pointed at Itachi, "don't want to know. You haven't lived long enough. It will curdle your brain. We were partners, and he became jealous when I started spending more time with you," he added to Deidara.

"What kind of partners?" Itachi asked as Deidara frowned thoughtfully.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Sasori demanded coldly.

Itachi glanced at Deidara who was looking at him sideways with an unreadable expression. From their connection, he could tell Deidara knew what Sasori was talking about and wasn't sure if Itachi could handle the information. The blond might not remember the half-demon, but he knew enough about Sasori to know what type of partner he was referring to. Or maybe it was the type of things Sasori did. Either way he was letting Itachi choose. Sometimes it was best not to know, but his unending, unquenchable desire to know refused to let his curiosity die.

"I'd like to know, please," he informed the vampire.

Sasori blinked his large brown eyes at him, before tilting his head back and giving him his most condescending expression. "We were scientific research partners," he replied. "I have taught you anatomy, but I did not learn from a book. Together, that partner and I studied anatomy, physiology, psychology, and alchemy." He paused, then jerked his chin to the side to observe him from a different angle. "Some of our methods and things we developed and learned about in regards to the extent of human abilities were things I taught Nazi doctors during the Second World War."

A tightness formed in his chest, his stomach churning unpleasantly. "You taught… the medical and mental torture the Nazis used during the holocaust?" he choked out in a quiet voice, trying hard to keep his voice stead. He felt horribly cold despite the warmth of the fire.

"Humans are fascinating," Sasori said with a bright day dreaming smile that was almost as chilling as the information itself. "It's a shame how politically correct everyone has to be now. Humans used to have passion; they used to want to learn things without worrying about what other people think. Now it's a media bloodbath of stuck up bimbos backstabbing one another preferring to be looked up to than help the people they claim to stand for." His eyes wandered to the far away ceiling, examining it as though it were speaking to him. "I suppose humans are on their way to that sort of thing again… eventually…" a big grin spread over his face that didn't reach his eyes. "I can't wait."

Itachi looked at Deidara for some anchor for reality in the presence of this monster, but the blond was also grinning at his Maker's words and Itachi was suddenly well aware that he was the only sane person in the room at the moment. Chewing on his lips, he leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly. Sasori had been right, he hadn't wanted to know. The two were sharing their own versions of playful expression; even though he knew Deidara would never hurt him, it was still frightening to think of these two children relishing in the thought of violence. Even without their mental connection, the two were talking with their eyes, remembering something evil and cruel and fun they had shared years ago.

Without any idea how to get out of this uncomfortable situation, he was spared any maladroit actions when Kit opened the door to the library and distracted the vampires. She stepped in, with her hands casually resting in her dress pants pockets. "Sorry to interrupt, but I heard you were talking about Halloween," she said, venturing in. "I was wondering if we _humans_ were going to be participating in any of your plans." Suddenly, to Itachi, she didn't look sorry for interrupting at all and he felt extremely uncomfortable again.

"Of course," Deidara said, crawling over to lie across the legs of a harassed looking Sasori, apparently oblivious to her strong hint. "We'll be carving pumpkins and decorating like always, un."

"And Halloween night?" she asked coolly.

 _'I think she means… you and the other humans,'_ Itachi whispered in his mind.

"Kit," Deidara scolded, though he was grinning good naturedly. "You'd think I'd forget about you?"

She pursed her lips. "Sounded like you were planning on spending it with other people. Other … fun things."

Deidara stared at her for a long moment before glancing sideways at Itachi who once again tried to become invisible. If he had an option for a superpower, he would definitely want to become invisible or be able to teleport out of uncomfortable situations. They seemed to be escalating in occurrences since meeting Deidara. "Don't be silly, Kit," he finally said.

"I'm not being silly. You—" she stopped, biting her lip as she seemed to reassess her accusation and collect herself again. "I'm sorry. Please don't forget about your humans."

"You're all my humans," Deidara commented, his grin gone.

"Last I heard, Itachi was a Shadow Hunter," she stated.

The temperature in the room dropped significantly and even without his connection to Deidara, he could feel his anger rising at her statement. Itachi didn't look up from his notebook, feeling himself lean away from the others. Sasori had been uncharacteristically silent during the exchange, but when he suddenly turned his head towards Kit, she bristled as though he had spoken.

"I just feel you've been neglecting the rest of us," Kit said to Deidara, then walked out of the room with her heels clicking with aggravated sharpness that didn't quite hide the fact that she was running from Sasori.

"When are you going to let me eat her?" Sasori asked as Deidara growled quietly under his breath.

"You can't eat her, Sasori-danna," Deidara informed him before Sasori finally cast him off his lap and onto the floor. Unfazed, the blond got up and sat on the arm of Itachi's chair, glancing over at his unhappy state. "I don't understand what is wrong with her lately."

"I think she's jealous," Itachi said quietly, still wishing he could pop away to another room at will.

"Of what?" he asked incredulously.

"Of … me," Itachi said, even quieter. "You're paying more attention to me, then her… and she should have seniority."

"That's stupid," Deidara grumbled, tapping his heels irritably against the stuffed chair. "I disappear for years at a time; she's never had an issue before."

"I don't know, Deidara," Itachi replied, prodding the page of his notebook with his pencil. "That's just how it seems to me… and Rose said the others were jealous."

"She did?"

"Humans are so stupid."

"I thought they were fascinating," Deidara shot back at Sasori.

"They are also very stupid and driven by emotions," the redhead replied. "Yours are spoiled and old. It's no wonder they are getting selfish and jealous of one another."

"Says the one who came storming out of his hellhole to find out why one of his toys got taken away, un."

"Shut up, Deidara."

"Is there anything else I should take note of, Sasori?" Itachi asked, hoping to end the awkward conversation.

"No," the vampire said, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Yes!" Deidara cheered, throwing his hands out. "Let's do something till the sun comes up! Movie night! We need to get you up to speed for Halloween, un!"

"Uh—" Itachi began uncertainly, but Deidara leapt to his feet and ran out of the room, shouting down the halls that it was movie night.

The brunette groaned a little, but a small smile crossed his lips. Movie night meant everyone would be there, so it wouldn't be anything too scary – if he woke up the werewolf children with his yelling, they were all still kids – and maybe they would be a decent transition from Sasori's stories about Halloween. Speaking of Sasori, the vampire was still sitting in his chair, upright like a proper gentleman staring at him openly yet again as if he was just a painting the boy was observing. "What?" Itachi asked finally.

"I am imagining how you would handle torture," was the simple reply. "I suspect I you had a reason to survive, you would be able to withstand it. I cannot imagine you giving in very easily even if you didn't have a reason. You're such an anomaly."

"Please don't imagine such things," Itachi told him. "That is creepy."

"I like that you are an anomaly."

"That doesn't make me feel better, Sasori," he stated. "In fact, it freaks me out a bit."

The vampire made a sound that could have been a laugh, but seemed so odd coming from the redhead that Itachi decided it wasn't an actual laugh. "Before you run off to play, I have a question," Sasori informed him, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, which allowed his feet to finally touch the ground. "Why and how exactly did you break my connection with Deidara? Please tell the truth. I can smell when you're lying, or trying to hide something. Like that Hunter you talked to last week and haven't told Deidara about."

Swallowing nervously, Itachi stared at him trying desperately to think of some retort that would make him think that he was crazy for assuming something like that, but it seemed rather pointless because Sasori just raised an eyebrow at him. Damnit, did Sasori know everything that went on in the castle? How could he know when Deidara didn't know? He knew Deidara didn't know because the blond would have freaked out. Why hadn't Sasori told Deidara if he knew? Leverage.

"A-ah, well…" he cleared his throat, trying to settle his thoughts. He was not good at being sneaky among these dangerous creatures. Sasori hadn't brought up the connection for quite some time – since Deidara had argued with him on their hunt, but the way he was sitting, the tone of his voice… it didn't seem as though he was about to threaten Itachi over it. "We had just done the exchange. I was able to enter Deidara's mind space," Sasori's left eye gave a barely noticeable twitch and Itachi remembered the door barred shut with locks and chains… Sasori had never been in Deidara's mind space, "and there is a place that is both of our mind space… I was able to get into Deidara's and the place we share, but I couldn't get into my own."

Sasori gave a short nod of understanding, but didn't say anything.

"Deidara's manifestation of your connection with him was a string," he held up his hand as a gesture to his wrist, "I was frustrated that I didn't know how to get into my own mind space and I was annoyed that the connection to you came with Deidara in our mind space, so I grabbed it and snapped it off."

"No one has been able to snap my strings before," Sasori stated, tilting his head to the side. "They don't attach to Shadow Hunters very easily because of the artificial magic on them, but no one has ever snapped the connection from someone else. Not physically or mentally." He looked at his hands, bending the joints of his fingers individually, seeming deep in thought. "Do you know what Deidara is?"

Itachi frowned at him, wondering what sort of answer he wanted. "He's your Made?" he ventured.

Sasori stared at him.

"He's…" he thought for a moment then took a soft inhale, realizing what Sasori wanted. "He is what I am to him. The way he smells… and tastes."

Sasori gave one short nod. "I am going to give you something," he informed him.

"What?" Itachi questioned warily, sitting upright in alarm.

"It is nothing dangerous. Nothing painful." The redhead stood, walking over to stand before him. It struck Itachi suddenly how small and young Sasori looked in his jeans and Oswald t-shirt under his plaid shirt. Drawing his hand up, Sasori slid a single digit into his mouth and when it came out there was a drop of blood pooling where he had pierced his own skin with a fang. Itachi, realizing what he was doing, tried to protest, but Sasori glared at him and he froze. "You know of vampire blood, yes? This will not hurt you. It is," he paused, searching for a word, "a SparkNotes of a few memories I've compiled for you and is designed to demonstrate to you the full magnitude of what you've done, because I'm sure that Deidara hasn't told you." Before Itachi could protest more, Sasori grabbed his jaw firmly though gently and forced the bleeding digit into his mouth, placing the blood on his tongue before removing it.

When Itachi had any of Deidara's blood, it was a slow build to feelings and memories. Sasori's blood was nothing like that. Sasori had purposefully given it to him to show him a specific thing and was old enough to be able to do it efficiently without giving him anything he didn't want. Images flashed in his mind, voices of people he didn't know flooded his ears. He felt hungry. When he opened the cell door, he had no idea that the starving boy on the other side would be such a delicacy. He had to throw out one of his Made to keep this one for himself. It had taken all his willpower not to drink him dry, he had tasted so good. He didn't think he'd ever be able to eat anything else again. And then he tried to run away. Over and over and over again. Always running away. The only thing he had ever desired and it kept trying to leave. So he spent the night on the blackness of the darkest corners of the universe to make sure he would never leave him. Because he was his favorite toy and it was the closest to love that one could come without ever knowing what love was. Emerging from the darkness, the next mouthful he took was ash. The swallow, acid. It burned and choked and ate away at his insides until he vomited it all out. He was hungry. So hungry. Nothing could make the hunger go away. Nothing. He had tried everything. Every flavor possible, but the hunger stayed. So strong. So powerful. So painful. Everything would be right. Everything would be perfect. The world would right its own wrongs if he could only have just one more taste. Just one more mouthful. Now he had his perfect toy and it had been his one terrible mistake.

Itachi stumbled to his feet, knocking over his chair as he scrambled to get away from Sasori, clutching his stomach and the desk to keep himself upright. He could still feel the acid eating away at his insides, but he knew it was just a memory, not reality. It had only lasted a few seconds, but the feelings of loss and pain and desperate hunger ebbed away much slower than the images had. Deidara was standing in the doorway, looking from Itachi to Sasori with a pained looked on his face. He had sensed Itachi's distress and came.

Itachi looked up at Sasori's cold, calculating eyes and slowly sat back down. "I'm sorry," his whisper barely able to leave his lips.

"Your pity is not needed," Sasori replied. "Your understanding is enough."

"Sasori-da—" Deidara started, but was cut off with a look from the redhead. Sasori looked angry, but not at either of them. Itachi didn't feel anymore danger than usual coming from the vampire, but Sasori didn't say anything before walking passed Deidara and out of the room. "Sasori didn't take my Changing very well," Deidara said into the silence that followed, dragging his foot against the oriental rug.

"Why did he show me that?" Itachi asked, rubbing his hands against his thighs to try to calm the feelings the blood had left him with.

"He knew I wouldn't tell you," Deidara suggested. "And you're a nice person… he knew you'd feel guilty, but don't."

"Too late," Itachi muttered, looking down at his hands. Sasori wanted his understanding, but it was more than that. An understanding of what he had done when he broke the connection and an understanding of what could happen. Even thinking about calling the Shadow Hunters was dangerous. Not just because the man could harm the people living in the castle and the city – the wolves, the witches, and the vampires. If something happened to him, Deidara would be in the same position as Sasori was in now. Sasori wasn't the type of person to dwell on anguish, but he sensed from the blood he gave him that at one point, long ago, it had been anguish. At one point, that anguish had been nearly unbearable. A memory of his scent and taste was all he had left of that treasured possession he held onto with that small gossamer string. And Itachi had broken that in his own selfish frustration.

His inner thoughts were interrupted by the blond's face coming into view. He was staring up at him and could read his face as though he had voiced his thoughts to him. "You think I should reform the connection?" he asked for confirmation.

Itachi grimaced and gave an uncertain nod. "I'm uncertain," he said quietly. "I don't like the way he treats you, and how he thinks he owns you… but I know that you miss the connection when he's here. You had him as a … security blanket, during the rough change."

"How do you know it's rough, un?" Deidara questioned with a valiant attempt to make a skeptical expression face.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, looking uncomfortable. "I could… Sasori smelled you, he was focused on keeping you and how good you smelled to him. He ignored what he smelled, but it was still there… You were so scared. He was with you when you changed and he was with you when you got used to it. No matter what changed, he was always there. You don't need him now, but you miss that. I don't think he will hurt me if you reopen the connection, so if you want to, it's okay."

Deidara chose to ignore the comment about him being scared, though his mouth twisted a little at it. "I'll think about i—"

"Itachi! Itachi!"

They both looked up as the library was suddenly invaded by young children who rushed over to the desk, no fear for the vampire that their parents were wary of – apparently the wolf pack from Denmark didn't have a good relationship with the vampires at home. Itachi's nervous demeanor left him and he smiled at the children. "What are you all doing awake?" he asked them.

"Movies!" they cheered.

"We heard Deidara is going to watch movies," Rose said, the adult among the children, able to speak the common language though the Danish children were picking up on German very quickly.

"It is one-thirty in the morning," he scolded, though he was still smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Deidara make a face and their connection gave him some insight. A bit jealous of his smile. "Maybe next time, don't shout it through the house where a bunch of werewolves live."

"Hvad sker der?"

One of the parents of the Danish wolf pups stuck their head into the library, looking down at the children in an amused, but scolding manner. The children answered, pointing at Itachi.

"Sorry," Itachi told him. "Deidara was a bit too excited and woke them up."

The man smiled and nodded. "They said they need you, though, Itachi, so they came to get you," he chuckled quietly and knelt down in front of one of the girls and asked her something that made her giggle and squirm, but he picked her up and she hugged him. Itachi wasn't sure how he suddenly knew – he suspected it was a push from Deidara, but he realized that this father wasn't a wolf, but a human. "One movie," he told the children, using German though he held up one finger so they'd understand. "Only one."

The rest of the night was spent watching Halloween movies on the big theater screen in the east wing. Jack managed to find a Danish version of a kid friendly movie and German subtitles which he attached to the file so everyone could understand. Sam made popcorn, but when she saw the pack of children she made two more bowls. Deidara obliged to allow the children to bicker over who got to sit next to or on Itachi's lap during the movie, though Itachi could tell he wanted to be the one sitting next to him. The kids fell asleep halfway through the movie and a few of the parents came in to get them and carry them back to bed. Rose, who didn't have to listen to any of the parents, was still awake and scooted to the other side of Itachi so Deidara could slide over next to him – though he brought Sam with him.

"Alright folks," Jack said at his computer, pausing the movie he had played for the kids. "There are several beloved Halloween movies we could watch, but I'm a fan of classic monsters – no offense to any beloved creature in the room – so I have a few selections."

"Jack's about to reveal his hipster side to Itachi," Sam commented in a false whisper.

"Hey!" Jack cried indignantly. "I'm a film major. I appreciate classics and Deidara said we were introducing Itachi to Halloween, so I figured we'd start with the monsters that influence modern celebrations—"

"Jack, I'm teasing," she said earnestly as Deidara chuckled.

The movies Jack played for them were all black and white films from the early to mid-1900s and all were in English with German subtitles. It was confusing because of the difference accents and coupled with the subtitles, his brain was on overdrive, unable to handle both languages at once. Gradually, he got used to it and settled into his seat between Rose and Deidara and ate the popcorn Rose offered. The others seemed to have seen the movies before, but were revisiting them as old friends – Jack was mouthing the dialogue and Sam kept leaning forward and whispering in Itachi's ear to watch certain parts or comment on the actors. During the showing of The Wolf Man, Rose commented that she was happy she turned into a wolf and not a hairy beast. After Dracula, Sasori and Deidara got into a heated argument about whether Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee played Dracula better, which prompted them watching a different version of the movie. After the two movies, Sam began her own chant for Halloween movies and Jack begrudgingly put on movies that Sam assured him were still classics. Together they all watched the movies back to back until the sun started to rise and Sasori left them to disappear into whatever secret hole he had found in the mansion to hide in during the day. Rose had fallen asleep midway through Beetlejuice so Deidara lifted her up and carried her back to her room after Nightmare Before Christmas was over. Itachi followed, thanking Jack for putting the movies together for them.

"Bela Lugosi," Sam said when he got to the door.

"What?"

"I think Bela Lugosi is the better Dracula," she said, grinning at him. "Sasori's wrong. He just really likes Christopher Lee. Imagine: Sasori liking someone. I'd run for the hills."

Itachi gave her a smile and hurried after Deidara. He met him outside of Rose's room after he'd tucked the girl into bed and together they went back to Itachi's room. He had a feeling Sasori was spending the day in Deidara's usual room.

"Wes told me that he's going to cut the pumpkins he's been growing, so tomorrow we're going to carve them, un," Deidara told him as Itachi slipped his shoes off. "It's fun, un. And Wes says the seeds are tasty to eat too. Did you know in American they have pumpkin tossing contests? They launch them out of cannons, un!"

"That sounds… wasteful," Itachi commented as he went into the bathroom. "And fun," he added when he felt Deidara's annoyance. He turned the hot water on to fill the tub while he showered, only to pause when he noticed Deidara watching with no sense of privacy in the slightest. Itachi stared at him, but instead of getting his silent hint to turn away, he merely stared back with inquisition. Mourning the loss of his privacy, Itachi stripped out of his clothes and stepped under the shower stream. He peeked to make sure Deidara wasn't doing something he wouldn't like, but the blond was only starting to go through the seemingly complicated process of piling all his hair on top of his head off the back of his neck. Deidara had way too much hair, but it looked nice on him. When he was finished, he tossed his clothes haphazardly on the bathroom floor and climbed into the tub that was still only half full and disappeared as he laid down. Itachi smiled a little as the vampire's foot reappeared to drape casually over the edge, dripping water onto the tile floor. Finishing cleaning himself off, he rinsed and went to join him.

There was nothing significant about the moment, but Itachi found he enjoyed sitting opposite the tub from him, legs entwined between them. Itachi was still not comfortable with physical contact Deidara liked, but taking a bath was different. It was the one time that the blond would sit still for him and relax. At the moment, the blond, with his head above the water again had his head leaned back against the rim with his eyes closed as if he was sleeping, but Itachi knew otherwise. At times, it was impossible to get the vampire to stop talking, but other times Deidara fell into what Itachi called 'Lost Mode' where he was so deep in thought it took effort to drag him back to reality. He, himself, had Harry Potter in his hand because Rose wanted to read them with him. He was only half paying attention to the text. The comfortableness of the moment overwhelmed his attention. He wouldn't contact the Hunter. Not for anything, even if he had questions. Even if being a Shadow Hunter was what he was supposed to be. It could destroy nights like this, movies with friends and comfortable relaxing moments in the tub. What could they give him that was better than what Deidara had given? Deidara was more than his friend now; they were soul mates in the most literal sense of the word. The Shadow Hunters would try to separate their souls again.

Giving up on his book, he carefully set it out of harm's way on the shelf above his head and sloshed gently through the water to settle next to the blond in the huge tub. He called to him, but it took several tries and a handful of nudges to get him to open his eyes again. The vampire looked a little confused, but seemed to accept the fact that he had zoned out and had no clue how or when Itachi came to his side. Itachi watched him stretch, then sink down until the water was to his nose.

"How can you stand it?" he asked softly.

Deidara lifted his mouth out of the water. "What?"

"Being close to me."

"Well, I like you," Deidara said, confused.

"Without feeding."

"I'm stronger than most vampires, un!"

"I mean, because it's the same for you as for Sasori," Itachi expanded, staring down at the surface of the water. "I feel as though I should let you bite me more often. I'm sorry I can't get used to it easily."

Deidara shook his head, shifting to his side to face him. "I don't need to drink it like that. I want it, of course, but I don't want to hurt you more. I don't need you for sustenance, you know… And Sasori is nuts!" he reminded him, draping and arm and leg out of the tub again. "He's nothing like me."

"You have a lot in common though," Itachi reminded him. "I can tell, Deidara. It's difficult for you, isn't it?"

"Sometimes, but don't worry so much, okay?" Deidara teased, his fingers sliding down under the water to go to private, teasing places. Itachi caught his hand and gave him a look.

"Alright… but please feel free to ask if you need to feed."

"I always want to bite you," Deidara crooned, sitting up to slide onto his lap, his mouth going towards his neck.

"W-wait, not here! We're in the bath," Itachi stammered, hands grabbing Deidara's shoulders.

"So?"

"We—" Itachi swallowed, unable to get the explanation of not wanting to be soaking in the byproduct of Deidara's bite. "I just showered…. And the sun will be up soon."

The blond laughed, but left him alone. "You're so funny," he commented, swinging his leg over the edge of the tub to step out onto the tile floor. Still laughing, he picked a towel from the shelf and dried himself off.

"I'm not," Itachi mumbled, giving him privacy even if he wouldn't give him any. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Deidara said, placing his hands on his hips after tossing the towel against the wall. Itachi pulled the plug to let the water drain and waited for a moment, but knew Deidara wasn't going to look away. He would get used to it eventually. "If I wanted to, you wouldn't be able to say 'no', un."

That devilish grin made Itachi swallow nervously, and they stared at each other for a long while before Itachi stood up. "No," Itachi said, taking a towel and drying himself off, "I could. And you would stop." Deidara looked at him in surprise at the firmness of his voice, but waited for him to pull on his pajamas and together they went into the bedroom to sleep.


	19. Halloween Night

They had offered to help Wes with his gardening, but the older man just smiled and shook his head, telling the children to play, producing a soccer ball and jump ropes for them. The children were delighted with the toys, some gathering in the orchard to kick the ball safely away from the more delicate plants Wes tended while the rest skipped rope along the stone path around the bare fountain, counting their skips to see who could skip the highest. He didn't mind them playing in the garden, so long as they treated the plants he cared so tenderly for with respect. Rose chose not to play and instead sat on the ground near Wes while he worked to prepare his plants for winter.

"I just finished a book," Rose was saying as she dug her fingers into the compost waiting to be packed around the roses for their winter rest. "It's called 'The Secret Garden' and it's about a garden with roses in it and there's an old gardener in the story who helps keep the garden a secret. He reminds me of you, Wes."

"I know that book," Wes commented with a smile, churning the earth. "Wasn't the gardener a crabby old man? Am I a crabby old man?"

"No," she said, giggling as she obeyed his gesture and brought the bucket of compost to him so he could pack it close to the roots to keep the plants warm during the winter. "But you know everything about plants!"

"Well, I've been doing this work for a long time," he said, chuckling softly. "They're like children, or pets. You take care of them, give them food when they're hungry, water when they're thirsty, and they'll grow beautifully for you."

"When you're finished, can we get the pumpkins?" she asked hopefully. "Itachi's never carved a pumpkin before."

Itachi looked up from his book – he had chosen to read the entire Harry Potter series because he was tired of the looks the household gave him when they were reminded that he hadn't read it yet, Sasori's had been the final straw – when he heard is name and nodded. "Deidara is excited to carve them, too," he told them. "Sasori told me spooky stories about pumpkins."

"Sasori is spooky," Rose commented. She paused, then gave Itachi an apologetic look. "Is he staying long?"

"I don't know," Itachi answered honestly.

"The Pack doesn't like him… he likes to cause trouble with the other pack," Rose said, making one of the faces she liked to make when she felt she was entitled to grown up conversations.

"I've seen," Itachi replied sympathetically.

Wes gave a slight groan as he stood up and stretched, though Itachi thought that it was a habitual because vampire blood healed all ails. He smiled at the two of them and indicated to the wheelbarrows waiting against the wall. Itachi retrieved one and he and Rose followed Wes through a few gardens lined with stone walls to the space he was using to grow pumpkins. The Danish wolves waited several minutes before following after them, sniffing the air to scent them out. They all seemed highly pleased with themselves when they did find them and exclaimed wildly about the size of the pumpkins. Wes wouldn't let any of them cut the plants themselves, but he handed them each one to help him by putting the pumpkins in the wheelbarrow. Itachi watched them work – going back to retrieve another wheelbarrow when needed, wondering how they would be using the pumpkins, but, he glanced up at the sun, there wouldn't be long to wait. Deidara was getting up earlier lately, though he wasn't getting up as early as Sasori yet.

"Hello?" sang Sam's voice from one of the garden archways. "Oh, Wes! These are amazing!" She came over to look at the pumpkins, grinning at the pile of pumpkins. "I can't believe you've never carved a pumpkin before, Itachi. It's a lot of fun – and," she added with emphasis, "I put my considerable artistic skills to use and decorated the courtyard. We can put the pumpkins there when they're finished and I'm pretty sure," she gave Itachi a significant look, "we're going to get coerced into decorating the inside of the castle for Halloween too."

"Coerced?" Itachi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… _you_ will be coerced," she corrected with a snicker. "I'll be doing it willingly. Also, I should warn you… there's a festival tomorrow and I'm pretty sure Dei's gonna force you to go, but – trust me – it's fun and we'll eat lots of good food."

Itachi made a face, but Rose tugged his sleeve with a grin. "I made my own costume!" she told him.

Costume. That sounded ominous, because if there was an option to dress up, he had a feeling Deidara would want him to do the same and he really did not want to do so. He was prevented from commenting on it though as Wes grasped one of the wheelbarrow's arms. "But first you all must cut up these," he said, leading the throng back through the kitchen gardens.

Sam grabbed a wheelbarrow and Itachi grabbed another. Some of the werewolves were sitting outside in the courtyard and they jumped to help. When all was done, there were five wheelbarrows with six or seven pumpkins a piece waiting by the large front doors and tarp was laid to make cleaning easier while the children ran into the house to put on clothes that could be dirtied. Itachi didn't want to start without Deidara and found himself standing close to Sasori who had joined them, but hadn't offered to help with the arrangements. His presence made the wolves look irritable, but he didn't bother them for once.

"Are you going to the festival tomorrow?" Itachi asked to break the silence in case Sasori changed his mind.

"Yes," was the short response.

Another moment of silence. "Are you dressing up in a costume?" he asked, his mind attempting to put the child vampire in a silly costume, but finding himself unable to picture him doing so.

"I don't have a costume," Sasori replied, making Itachi wonder if he would if he did have a costume.

"So do you like carv—"

 _'Don't start without me!'_

The sudden shouting in his head made him jump involuntarily and Sasori finally obliged to look at him. He seemed to understand the motion immediately and rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he snapped into the open front door.

 _'Asshole…'_ came Deidara's grumbling that slipped through their connection. Itachi smiled, but didn't relay the comment to Sasori who went to choose a pumpkin and began carving with the tools he accepted from the wolf next to him. The other child vampire joined them soon after and Itachi joined him among the carnage of violated pumpkins to learn to carve pumpkins, a little surprised as the night progressed that Sasori hadn't caused any problems. He seemed content with his work and took his time with it while Deidara chatted about the festival to the wolves, pausing to allow translations to be passed to the Danish wolves. To his surprise, he found he enjoyed the carving though he wasn't very good at it yet and later discovered that the salted and baked pumpkin seeds made a tasty snack. By the time the children were taken up to bed for the night, the courtyard and front door was covered in an array of glowing faces that ranged from happy, angry, scared, silly, and devilish; scenes of macabre psychotic cannibal pumpkin men and the bloodshed they created; shrunken heads made from apples hung from the lanterns and from the branches of the tree that grew in the center of the courtyard under which was a gravestone for each of the members of the household made by Sam. Etched into them were things like "Kit: she fought valiantly for the last pair of Gucci", "Deidara: an artist till the end", "Jack: they cancelled his Netflix account", and "Itachi: he wouldn't stop asking questions." As morbidly terrifying as they were, Itachi couldn't help but like them.

"Why don't I have one?" Sasori commented coldly after observing these.

"Oh," Sam started, suddenly looking suddenly terrified and rubbed her arm nervous. "Sorry I… I just couldn't imagine you ever dying so…"

And to everyone's surprise, Sasori made a sound like a chuckle and left them for the entire night.

On Halloween, when the sun went down, nearly the whole house went into the city to partake in the festival. An entire street had been closed down, once full of cars there were now venders and games. Stalls held people shouting out their items and prices. Some had plastic and papier-mâché masks for people to wear if they hadn't dressed in costume. Others had candles, decorations, and charms. Even more had food, both meals and snacks. Thick sausages, beef, pork, sauerkraut, and potatoes were everywhere as was beer and cider. Crafts and carving stands were full of children and adults alike, digging their fingers into their work, uncaring of the stickiness that came with painting and carving gourds.

The procession began separating to explore their own fantasies – Rose waving to Itachi as she followed her mother who had a protective grasp on her hand. It was the first time Rose had been allowed off the castle grounds since she was very young, but the wolves had decided there was enough of them to protect her and the other children if danger was nearby. Nearly everyone was dressed in a costume of some sorts except for the Denmark wolves, who had had no time to shop for costumes, though their children had been doted on by Rose so they wouldn't be left out. In wolf politics, because she was older than them, she had a position of superiority though they were from different packs and was using that superiority to take them all under her wing. A proper dominant wolf who cared for those weaker than she.

Itachi had politely and firmly declined any and all suggestions for a costume and to Deidara's intense displeasure had worn plain jeans and his thick jacket, though he had worn a T-shirt given to him with black and gray outlines of crows and dead trees with a quote in English that was difficult to read because of the typeset. He had been told it was from a book, but didn't ask which. His desk in the library was becoming overrun with books various people thought he should read. Normally, he wasn't interested in fictional novels, but was touched by being thought of and was slowly going through them during his free time. Deidara was dressed as some type of ghoul with a mask pushed casually off his face so he could see, though his skin was bruised with make-up. Sasori was also dressed in casual dark plaid pants and a jacket, but had a mask as well, which he slid on after getting out of the large car that drove them.

Costumes of every shape and size flowed around him. He already forgot what his friends were wearing and lost them instantly. Deidara didn't seem to mind that he was sticking close to him, allowing him to have his fingers gently entwined in the fabric of his costume so they wouldn't be separated. Itachi hated crowds, even if this one was so fascinating. He began to notice other types of not-humans around them; different angles and light showed something like shadows of their true form hovering behind the human mask they normally wore. There were vampires he didn't know, but gave nods to him and Deidara as they passed, creatures with large eyes and distorted faces, creatures who looked like some of the costumes under the false human face they had on. Itachi decided to ask Deidara afterwards what they all were. He saw Chloe Engle talking happily to a few other women, all dressed in stereotypical witch costumes which amused him. And there were Shadow Hunters there as well. He wasn't certain how he knew what they were, but suspected it to be a borrowed ability from Deidara. When asked about them, the blond made an off-handed comment about it being an open festival. Anyone could join the activities, but they were probably here to make sure no one took advantage over the confusion.

Deidara had Itachi try many different kinds of food and drinks available until they came across a pumpkin carving contest that they paused to watch a few of the wolves who had joined in the competition with Sasori, who won unanimously with a delicately carved scene on his pumpkin with a headless man carrying a pumpkin in his hand while chasing after victims on a horse. The second runner up was one of the Denmark wolves who carved a scene of a wolf pack that continuously ran around the glowing gourd. Sasori looked smug, but didn't gloat as he disappeared from the crowd again towards the games.

"Deidara! Itachi!"

The two turned towards the voice that called them, its owner waving her hand to get their attention. Chloe Engle smiled good-naturedly at them as she tipped her pointed hat towards them, standing carefully so her cat, perched on her shoulder, wouldn't lose its balance. Itachi thought the cat was fake until he came closer.

"Hi Chloe," Deidara greeted politely, though he was glancing passed her at the other women. Itachi sensed that while he liked Chloe, the others didn't hold his trust. These women weren't wearing pointed hats, one had allowed her thick curls to fall free down her back, while the other had hers twist into braids atop her head. Their skin was a similar shade of brown to Chloe's and Chloe introduced them as her cousins, Mesi and Priscilla.

"Are you two having fun?" she asked them, though her question was directed at Itachi.

"Yes," Itachi replied with a smile. "We don't have festivals like this where I'm from."

"Would you like your fortune read?" Mesi, the long haired woman asked.

"Can you read a vampire's fortune, un?" Deidara questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

"For a fee," she coyly replied. "You vampires trust us just as much as we trust you. Power is a dangerous thing, but I assure you our family is clean of death magic. Are you?"

"Mesi," Chloe softly chided while Deidara gave a dramatic roll of his eyes.

All eyes turned to him and he felt himself flinch a little. "I don't have any money," he said quietly.

"You don't give your humans any money, Deidara?" the witch questioned in a tone Itachi didn't really like. He wasn't sure what it was about her that seemed … dangerous, perhaps was the right word. When he met Chloe, he thought she was a gentle person and not quick to anger. This woman, Mesi, seemed ready and able to lash out like a whip if she wanted.

"No money is needed from Meister Deidara," said the other witch who had yet to speak. Her voice was soft and her big hazel eyes were fixated on Itachi.

"Well," Mesi said, recovering her attempts at controlling the interactions. "It would be so nice," she made the word 'nice' sound like mud on her shoes, "if you could fill this, Meister." She produced a small bottle the size of her smallest finger from a pocket in the folds of her artfully tattered black skirt. "It's so very useful. Much healthier than Viagra."

The vampire made a soft grunting noise and glanced at Itachi, silently asking him if he wanted to have his fortune read by the witches. He replied with a small smile and raised one shoulder. Why not? "Fine," Deidara replied, taking the bottle, "Itachi only."

Itachi watched curiously as Deidara uncorked the bottle and brought its mouth to his teeth. He was putting venom in the bottle like scientists did with snakes. Better than Viagra… he almost laughed. Chloe took his hand, steering his attention away from his vampire and brought him closer to the quiet witch Priscilla, whom he realized was quiet because she was … he frowned inwardly. He was spending more time with the werewolves than anyone else. If she'd been a werewolf, he would have called her submissive, but he wasn't sure what to call it outside of the wolf pack. Chloe was gentle, but strong. This woman was gentle, and fragile.

He sat across from her on a nearby stool and she took his hand, but Mesi interrupted them. "No, no, Prissy… let's do the tea leaves first," she said, bustling around the stall Itachi realized was theirs. Priscilla dropped Itachi's hand, but she continued to stare at him – not quite as intensely as Sasori did, but a little unnervingly. Mesi made a cup of loose leaf tea with quick hands and set it in front of Itachi, the steam rising from the water into the chilly night air. "Look at the surface of the tea. See how the water ripples from your breath… What do you see just below the surface?"

"Um…" Itachi looked, seeing nothing, then glanced at the three of them for some type of guidance, then looked again. "I just see tea… and the reflection of the lights."

"Below the surface, not the mirror the water makes," Mesi pressed.

The little globes hanging from the stall made it difficult to see something that was certainly not there, but he tried. The leaves gave the water a red hue, the deepest red at the bottom where the leaves sat, the color growing diluted as it approached the surface. It looked a little like instant miso soup that had been sitting on the counter for too long, only red… "Just the tea," Itachi said quietly, feeling stupid. "I mean… it looks like… blood I guess. A bit like miso when the mix sinks to the bottom."

"Interesting," the witch murmured, her index finger rubbing the underside of her chin thoughtfully.

"Is it?" he asked, staring at her. It didn't sound very interesting. Actually it sounded rather dumb.

"Perhaps you'll be going home soon, seeing a Japanese soup in your tea," she replied with a smile. "Blood sounds like an adventure. Take a sip, go on." He did so, then she took the cup from him and took a drink herself. "A very long adventure, far from home… I think. Not alone… maybe dangerous. He's very hard to read."

Her last statement was directed at Chloe, who smiled and patted Itachi's shoulder. "I told you so. Though I sense the spell I told you about is gone," she added to Itachi. "Something like that can only be dispersed by something stronger."

The third witch, Priscilla held out her hand for his again and he gave it to her reluctantly. She turned his hand upright in a similar way Chloe had done on their first meeting and stared down at his hand. Then she blinked and frowned, staring harder. "This is confusing," she stated finally. "It's like… there's two of you here…"

Mesi leaned forward curiously. "Two?"

Chloe took a long, gentle breath and placed her other hand on Itachi's shoulder. He felt something odd, like a gentle buzz and looked back at her. "Two souls," Chloe commented after a moment, turning to look at Deidara.

"Is this your doing, Deidara?" Mesi asked curiously, but she was staring at Itachi in a way that made him very uncomfortable. "I didn't know vampires had such skills.

Deidara gave a non-committal grunt in response as he folded his arms and continued to watch them closely. The witch tilted her head to the side, then shrugged and finished Itachi's tea. "Having two souls to read at once is difficult, Prissy, it's not your fault. It could refer to both of you, or one of you. Impossible to tell which."

"Do all witches see the future?" Itachi asked curiously.

"I am not seeing the future," Priscilla replied quietly, her hands tucked away on her lap. "Very few witches pursue that skill because it is tremendously inaccurate, and it drains your body and mind."

"Witchcraft isn't something you just learn from a book," Chloe told Itachi, stepping around him to stand next to her cousin. "It is as natural to us as walking, but there are many different kinds of walking and we all have our specialty skills and can learn more. Priscilla is simply sensing the pull from your energy."

"Oh," Itachi said, glancing back at Deidara who was failing miserably at trying not to look bored.

"He doesn't trust us witches," Mesi said, seeing his glance as she twirled her dark hair in her fingers. "We are bound too closely with the earth for him. Deidara likes the sky, don't you?"

Deidara didn't reply, but handed the bottle of vampire venom to Chloe with a shrug. "Deidara doesn't trust witches," she told Itachi. "Because we can be dangerous."

"I'm taking my human back," the vampire stated.

"I'd rather he stay," Mesi responded. "He's very handsome, and I'd be happy to show him a good time."

"No," Deidara snapped, physically lifting Itachi off the chair as if he weighed nothing and tucked him safely behind him. Chloe shifted between Mesi and Deidara. Itachi wasn't sure if she was protecting them, or protecting her cousin as she gave the other woman a look Itachi couldn't see.

When she turned back to the two of them, she was smiling apologetically. "Sorry," she said, lifting her hand to take Itachi's from behind Deidara. He had the sense of something being taken off his hand as she did so and he glanced down curiously. "I hope you have fun tonight," she added, flicking her wrist at the stall and the cup Itachi had drunk from shattered in a soft tinkle. Deidara, already turning to leave, didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you," Itachi said, smiling at her and waved to the other women. "You don't like witches?" he asked Deidara when they were a distance away from them. He decided not to tell him that he suspected Chloe had pulled an unwanted spell off his hand, the blond might storm back to them.

"No," Deidara stated, shaking his head vigorously. "Chloe is alright, but I don't trust the others. She was right that witches are dangerous... They can be addicted to their own power and want to use it more. It is easy for a witch to begin using evil magic and that magic is even more addicting, like drugs, un. Witches are also very secretive so you never know exactly what their endgame is."

"So they're a bit like vampires," Itachi commented, smiling at the exasperated look on Deidara's face.

"Chloe is in line to be the head of the witch coven here after her grandmother and mother die, I trust her more, but that Mesi witch has the potential to be very dangerous," the blond commented, then changed the subject by dragging him into a new stand.

"No, thank you," Itachi said, stopping short. "I am not allowed to drink alcohol yet."

"This is Germany, Itachi," Deidara smirked, suddenly free from the irritation the witches had left on him. "You're legal, so have a drink."

The people standing around the stall greeted them heartily, and pulled Itachi closer when they heard him telling Deidara he had never drunk alcohol before. The man at the makeshift stall told the two of them in a proud booming voice that the beer was his own brew that he and his family had been perfecting for generations. Gingerly taking the mug – thankfully a small one – that was given to him, he sipped the amber liquid carefully. The foam wasn't pleasant, but once he got passed the strange flavor, it was easier to drink. With Deidara leaning on the bar next to him, grinning widely as he paid for the drink. The men around him cheered Itachi as he finished the whole thing with only a slight grimace.

"It's okay," he murmured, running his tongue against the back of his lips to retrieve any remaining liquid. "I'm just not used to it…"

"Took it well," the barman told him, giving him a hardy clap on the shoulder that nearly knocked him to the ground. "Good man." Laughing good-heartedly, he took his empty glass and went to wash it in the makeshift sink before pouring more for the people surrounding them.

"Ugh, that was weird," Itachi cringed, feeling the strange liquid sink into the pit of his stomach, but he had a feeling it wouldn't escalate to being drunk. It was only a small glass. "I don't think I like beer."

"It was good," Deidara assured him, grinning widely. "I could taste it," he murmured, licking his lips.

"Really? Through our connection?"

"Mhm!"

"Is that why you've been making me try so many different things?"

Deidara attempted to look shocked and offended, but failed miserably. "No!" he exclaimed anyway. "I want you to… experience… the tastiness of Halloween, un!" He gave a cheeky grin when Itachi just gave a small shake of his head and pulled him out of the crowed into an ally between houses. Obediently, Itachi followed him, sliding through a small iron gate that led into a small garden. Its overhanging bushes gave a sense of total privacy from the road, but the little path showed that it was also someone's empty backyard turned into a gardener's paradise. Itachi realized too late what they were doing here and didn't get a chance to protest before Deidara had him on his back with his pants to his knees. The vampire gave him the curtesy of a shushing gesture before his mouth found the soft flesh of his inner thigh to sink his fangs into. Itachi clamped his teeth onto his jacket sleeve to keep himself from crying out as the venom worked into his bloodstream, but a quiet whimper slid out as his body convulsed and soiled what he imagined to have been a very nice garden.

…mine… mine…. mine… mine….

The word echoed in his head as his fingers dug into Deidara's arm that held him down against the frosty grass. It was difficult to even try to process the word, or even if he was hearing it with his ears or not. Maybe he was thinking it. Maybe it was Deidara thinking it, or their own thoughts making a very solid affirmation. Mine.

The blond pulled his fangs out of him, taking care to lick away the blood his mouth had missed then crawled over to sit next to him with a self-satisfied smirk. His tongue flicked out to lick his lips. "I couldn't help myself, un," he said with a snicker.

"I would appreciate a warning next time," Itachi mumbled, pushing himself up to sit and grabbed a napkin he had stuffed into his pockets to clean himself up and hurriedly pulled his pants up, feeling extremely awkward about being partially naked in a stranger's garden.

"And miss that adorable look on your face?" chided Deidara as he leaned closer to him, hair snagging on the brush on the ground. He pushed his sleeve up and gave a gesture to his arm. "Want some?"

"Sure," he replied, watching him bite down on his forearm, tearing the skin enough to allow Itachi to easily drink his blood that didn't flow as quickly as human blood. It was strange drinking with Deidara watching him so intently, but he supposed it was only fair since he had watched Deidara. Swallowing mouthfuls of it didn't seem nearly as strange or disgusting to him as it once had been – though he would never drink anyone else's. The blood filled him with warmth and even a small mouthful gave him goosebumps and a buzz that had nothing to do with the mug of beer he had drunk. He watched the blond's arm close up once again, not a single mark on it. He took a deep breath, smelling the autumn scents that had become much sharper… and something else.

He frowned and looked at Deidara. "What is it?" he asked him with a frown.

Deidara looked mildly surprised then gave a great sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "I need to go see the others and spend time with them… Sasori was right, it's a good night for them to feed too, un," he told him. "I feel bad leaving yo—"

"I can hear half-truths, too, Deidara," Itachi cut him off.

Deidara's expression of surprise returned and he folded his arms. "Yikes… who are you, Sasori?" he joked. Itachi raised an eyebrow and waited, not about to let Deidara walk all over him. Wasn't that what Rose said was a good thing about him. Deidara gave a huff. "I have to go away soon," Deidara told him.

"Where?"

"China… North, closer to Russia, un."

"Oh," he replied, a little surprised and confused. Apparently, the witch had been right, but he wasn't going to point that out to Deidara. "I'm going with you, right?"

The blond shook his head. "Too dangerous," he told him. "I'm not flying and I don't want anyone to know I'm coming, un. I was asked to come help with something… I owe a favor, un."

Itachi nodded seriously, sitting up a little stranger. "I understand," he told him, watching the blond pick up a twig and roll it between his fingers, then crushed it into pieces. "You're going to open your connection with Sasori before you leave," he added, sensing his thoughts. Or rather … he felt him thinking about his Maker, the faintest image came into the back of Itachi's mind, so he guessed.

Deidara nodded, "tonight," he told him. "I might need it, un. Plus, he'll leave you alone while I'm gone and tonight's the best night to do it."

"That makes sense."

"I'm going to need to block you out when I do it," Deidara told him unhappily.

"So, he won't be able to get into my head," Itachi replied with a nod. "I understand."

Deidara began to twist his hair around his finger absentmindedly, looking unhappy. "I just wanted to warn you before I did it, un…"

"Thanks."

"I really hope you don't get dreams about Sasori like you dream about me sometimes, un," the blond muttered, chewing irritably on his lip.

"I'll be alright," Itachi assured him. "You should go find the others so you have enough time with them."

Deidara didn't move, stretching his legs out so that his knee was pressed against Itachi's leg.

"I'll stay with Rose and her parents tonight," Itachi suggested, sensing the cause of Deidara's hesitation. "They are helping the other parents with the rest of the kids. They can keep me safe."

"Good idea."

Itachi waited, but Deidara didn't move. The wind made the leaves around them dance and scrape delicately across the ground; the sounds from the street floating towards them. The blond was staring down at his own lap, his nose quivering like a dog who found an interesting smell. "Deidara," he nudged him gently. "I'll be okay. Sasori won't get to me. I'll be safe with the wolf pack."

"And then I'll leave."

"We'll still be connected," Itachi reminded him.

"I know, I just don't like leaving you behind, un," Deidara said, sitting upright and began absentmindedly picking at the grass. "I haven't heard of any activities from the Shadow Hunters about you…"

"What do you mean?"

"They demanded you back, remember? You or war. The council told them it was impossible because you were my Human Servant, and Shadow Hunters are particular about things to do with magic. They couldn't continue insisting without letting us know that they officially have ways of severing the connection between a vampire and Human Servant – we only really suspect, so instead they demanded punishment. I don't think they would have given up so easily if they didn't have another way of getting to you, un. They haven't done anything… I'm worried that they'll do something when I'm gone and I can't come back, un…"

"I'll be safe," Itachi assured him. "I won't go anywhere without one of the werewolves, or …" he paused with a frown, wondering if he could trust the other vampires in the castle.

"Belle."

"What?"

"You can … trust Belle," Deidara told him, though it was with a frown. "Belle doesn't want to be in power, she likes being second in command… and none of the other vampires are strong enough for her to follow them, un. I'm sure."

The gate they had come through creaked as it swung open. The sound didn't startle Itachi because he knew – from Deidara – who it was. Sasori was clean, but smelled of blood that belonged to someone Deidara didn't know. He had fed on someone before tracking the two of them down. The vampire's expression was blank, but his eyes were hungry in anticipation. Itachi wondered how long he had been standing there, but knew that Sasori had heard Deidara's decision. The blond didn't look up at him.

"I have to go see—"

"Me first," Sasori interrupted.

Deidara made an unhappy noise, but leaned forward to nuzzle his forehead against Itachi's shoulder, but stood and obediently walked to Sasori, shoulders scrunched up around his ears. Sasori looked passed him to Itachi, who remained on the ground, then pointed somewhere Itachi couldn't see.

 _'Dahlia and Dolphus are at a stall nearby with Rose, un.'_

And they left him alone in a stranger's garden.

The blond had warned him that he was going to block off their connection temporarily and he was glad for the warning. Even with it, he had no way to prepare for the feeling it gave. He felt as though he had just run full speed into a brick wall. And so lonely. He had never felt so alone before. He clutched the ground next to him for something to stabilize him, biting into his lip to resist fighting the block. To run after Deidara and beg him to open it again. It took him several minutes to catch his breath, but he still felt off balance. This was the worst thing he had ever felt, but hopefully it wouldn't last long. In his mind space, he reached for the door that always led to Deidara, but it was locked tight. He had grown use to the blond's presence.

He didn't want to move. He was content to stay where he was, hiding his misery under the bushes with his arms wrapped around his knees, but he couldn't. He promised Deidara he would find the wolves and his vampire would freak out if he didn't do so. Rising on shaking legs, Itachi followed the path out of the garden and spotted Rose's parents standing by their daughter who was doing some craft at the table with some of the other pups. He stayed with them the remainder of the night, taking the pups to houses and shops so they could fill their baskets with candy they begged for. When the baskets were too full to add anymore, they walked outside of the city to a large cleared field where a bonfire was built for roasting marshmallows and keeping warm. A small wooden stage housed a band that played music for the ghouls, the witches, the princesses, the superheroes, and all the other costumed identities dancing together. Itachi spoke and smiled at the right times, but it didn't feel as much fun. He had had Deidara so intimately in his mind that his absence made it difficult to interact on a social level alone.

Oddly enough, his closest friend here was a ten-year-old who could tell that something was wrong, but didn't understand what it was. He was grateful for Rose's small hand clamped firmly on his as they walked the neighborhood and her excitement to make s'mores and drink cider with him – something much more delicious than beer. The other pups who were closer to Rose's age stayed with them too, some able to speak broken German at this point, picking it up much faster than their parents. One of the adult wolves from Denmark told them ghost stories that caused them to squeal and cling to one another until all the excitement overwhelmed their small bodies. Even Rose didn't last long into the night; Itachi carried her on his back to the car that would take them back to the castle.

"Itachi?" she murmured sleepily.

"Yeah, Rose?"

"Thanks for staying with me, even though you're unhappy," she told him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He took a breath and let it out slowly. He didn't mean to make the others unhappy because he was feeling miserable about being blocked. "I had fun with you, Rose," he told her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

When they arrived back at the castle, the parents took their children to bed and, with nothing else to do, Itachi began his own journey to bed. A sound coming from one of the tower corridors caused him to pause. It was both sad and beautiful; an instrument he had never heard before. Curious, Itachi followed the corridor to the circular stairs leading to the tower's top. Sitting in an open window was Tal, playing something that resembled a flute. Deidara had let the man stay longer than they had originally intended, which Itachi was grateful for because he liked him. Tal had politely turned down their invitation to the festival, so Deidara had given him blood before they left. Now he sat, gazing out at the darkness of the grounds playing his instrument with gentle, masterful fingers.

It took a few moments for the man to notice him at the bottom of the stairs and when he did, he smiled, pausing in his playing. His smile was sad and lonely. "It's a 'bansuri'," he explained. "It was the instrument I played the night I met Kali. I play it for her tonight in hopes that she will also think of me tonight…"

Chest tightening at his words, Itachi silently slipped away, leaving his friend alone in his private grief. Knowing that what he was feeling now was what Tal felt continuously was too much for him to handle right now. He fled to Deidara's room instead of his own, glancing briefly at the painting of the redhead staring down at him with haughty eyes before slipping inside to burrow under the covers and wait out the loneliness of the day.


	20. Duties and Distance

Sasori left.

Figured.

The redhead got what he wanted so he had no reason to stay. It would have been nice if he had stuck around at least a little bit longer, but he hadn't. Three days after Halloween, he was gone without a word. He hadn't stayed for his birthday – something Deidara grumbled about as he enjoyed parties even if Sasori did not. The only person he said anything to before he left was Itachi, something that surprised Deidara. He hadn't threatened his human, per se, but had reminded him of how possessive he was with his things. Deidara was his Made, so, by extension, Deidara's possessions were his as well, Itachi concluded. The brunette told Deidara about it later, but Itachi hadn't taken it as a warning, but a favor. If Itachi belonged to Sasori just as much as Deidara did, then the redhead was offering him protection – or at least vengeance – as well.

Deidara thought Itachi was nuts and told him so.

It took him a few days to get used to having his mind connected to two different people, even though he was actively trying to keep one of them out. He spent the first day and night after Halloween trying to visualize the connection he had with Sasori so that he was able to ensure that his Maker couldn't get to Itachi. He was unsuccessful, but Sasori didn't even seem to try to test if he could get to his human. He was moody for a most of the week waiting for some sort of mental attack that never came. It was made worse by the fact that he knew he had to leave soon. He didn't want to, but his aid was needed, and the blond always repaid favors. This was a big favor – he supposed he wasn't going to owe these vampires anymore – they had called for him as a berserker. That was his favorite type of warfare, the feral insanity of it.

But it was dangerous.

He couldn't take Itachi.

That was his paradox. If he brought Itachi, he could be used against him in some way. He would be constantly worried for his safety and more vulnerable against whatever malevolent beings this group of Chinese vampires were dealing with. Not only that, but if word reached the Tokyo Master that the two of them were closer to their border, they may try to take advantage of it. Deidara had no way of knowing whether or not they still wanted Itachi. He could take them, but it would still be an annoying, time consuming thorn in his side.

But leaving Itachi home was no better.

This was his home and it was protected by spells and many individuals. The vampires that lived in the castle itself may not agree with him on certain points – personal or political, but they weren't stupid enough to allow disaster to enter. His humans were smart, and both Alphas assured him that their packs would all his humans safety their priority. Many in the city owed him favorites too, so they would rise to defend if needed. That was how vampire politics went. Favors and debt. Trade was important in what might be considered vampire culture. Deidara's arm of protection was long. He had friends all over the world. Everyone paid their dues when they could. It was another reason why Deidara was a dangerous person to have within the rings of political figures. He was good at what he did, even if he hated politics.

He watched his humans babble about things they would really like him to bring them, his vampires discussing the chain of command in his absence and Itachi standing nearby like an unhappy shadow. He didn't want to be left behind, even though he accepted it was the best thing for him.

"Deidara!" Sam's call drew his mind out of his thoughts. The girl slid to a halt at the top of the stairs, clutching the rail to stop her momentum. She scanned the crowd that all looked up at her frantically before she found him. "Oh, good, you're still here."

"What's up?" he asked.

"I have to tell you something," she called down the stairs. "Uh, privately?"

Deidara shared a glance and shrug with Itachi, then began to climb the stairs and allowed her to give him a bear hug, lifting him a few inches off the ground. Curse her monstrous American height. "I found him," she whispered in his ear.

"Really?" Deidara replied, eyes widening.

"Mhm," she said, placing him back down on his feet. "He's not so far from the house."

Deidara glanced down at his cluster of humans and associate vampires below. If only he'd gotten this information sooner. His thoughts must have been apparent on his face because she started apologizing as she adjusted her sweater nervously. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I only just found out this afternoon and had to make a call to get confirmation…"

"I understand, don't worry about it," he told her. "Keep this between us. It'll be a surprise for everyone, un."

"My lips are sealed," she said, making a zipping gesture over her mouth. "Sure you don't want Kit to arrange something?"

"Nah, she's got enough to do, right?" Deidara replied with a grin. "She's turning into a cranky old lady when she gets more work…"

Sam's eyes flicked down at the woman typing on his phone in the foyer. "Yeah, but don't tell her I said that."

"I'll do it when I get back. Like a Christmas present, un!" Deidara grinned and rocked on his feet.

"Sweet."

"Sam, be nice to Itachi," he told her. "You're all important to me and it hurts his feelings when you're cold to him. I've no use for bickering humans in my house." He watched her face redden as she stared down at the ground between them.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I don't really care that much… I like him."

"He's still nervous about living with people. Be nice," he repeated before going back down the stairs.

"Are you sure you don't want a companion with you?" Markus questioned.

"The message said only Deidara," Kit stated promptly. "They don't trust anyone else."

"Plus, I think you'd slow me down," Deidara commented, smirking at the vampire's sullen face. "Belle is in charge, but Itachi is an extension of me." He grinned at the sudden panic emulating from Itachi because he didn't want to be even remotely in charge. "Don't kill each other and don't burn down the castle while I'm gone, un."

"You, of all people, shouldn't be telling us that," Kit told him, looking up from her phone with a grin.

"It is my house."

"Right."

Itachi followed him out of the house and walked him to the car waiting in the courtyard, still covered in pumpkin carnage. "Be careful," Itachi offered as a parting word.

"Psh," Deidara scoffed, tossing his hair. "Don't have to worry about that, un. I'm tough as nails."

"Okay," Itachi said, but didn't look convinced. "You…" he chewed on his lip, then decided to continue, "you won't block me out while you're gone, right?"

"No!" he shook his head frantically. "Never again, un! I promise." He grabbed and shook Itachi's pinky with his own. He wasn't sure if Itachi knew what he was doing, but apparently, he did because his human squeezed his pinky with his own and shook it back.

Itachi look relieved in any case and nodded. "You'll keep me up to date? And let me know when you get there? And when you're on your way home?"

"Yes, mom," Deidara laughed and rolled his eyes a little. "You're the one I'm worried about, un. Especially since Tal went home, so you'll be all alone with all these sharks…"

"I'll be careful," Itachi assured him, standing attentive as though waiting for orders. He was still so strict and ridged with himself, but Deidara had notice him slowly becoming more relaxed. They shared a lot between their personalities, but Itachi was still a gently, analytical being while he prided himself on being a well calculated wrecking ball. Deidara could sense he wasn't happy about him leaving, but accepting that Deidara had a job to do.

"You won't get rid of me completely, un," Deidara reminded him, tapping the side of his head. "Don't do anything stupid, cause I'll know if you do."

Itachi hesitated a moment, then said, in a soft imitation of Kit, "you, of all people, shouldn't be telling me that."

"Oh, you make jokes now, huh?" Deidara said, though it was with a laugh. Itachi gave him a slight smile.

The car's window rolled down and Jasper, leaned a muscular arm out of it. Deidara nodded to him and gave Itachi's side a gently poke. "See you later," he said to him, climbing in the passenger's side and waved as the car pulled away. His eyes could easily pick up the silent shapes in the darkness, watching their Alpha pull away. Even in human form, werewolves' eyes reflected light oddly.

Jasper dropped him off in Lubeck, though he offered to take him further to Berlin, but Deidara turned him down. Two hours in a car with a dominant werewolf was fine, but he would get bored and accidentally do something to set the wolf off if it was any longer. They weren't natural enemies, they were just two different species. One natural, born with the gene of transfiguration. The other created grotesquely with a blood virus. Both predators who did not take kindly to other predators in their spaces. Deidara showed them respect, and they had returned it. While he was gone, in return for the favor of protecting the pack's precious remaining child, Jasper and his pack would protect his home and his humans. The Denmark pack was staying in a wing of the castle, and now, with him gone, many of Jasper's pack had taken off work to do the same. Deidara appreciated the gesture and solidarity the wolves gave him.

When they parted, the blond sprinted away into the night, feeling the overbearing sense of the predator behind him who would love to have thrown himself into the chase of a lifetime. Another night, he would have taken them up on it.

Itachi gave the werewolf getting out of the car with him a grateful and sympathetic smile as he yawned loudly. The man was very rumpled to say the least. Rumpled jeans, rumpled hoodie, and he imagined there was a rumpled shirt under the hoodie as well. His brown hair was tussled and unkempt, though that was something Itachi was beginning to suspect was an actual feature of a werewolf in human forms, as most of the werewolves' hair looked a little wild unless they took care of it every day; even Rose's hair was looking a little crazier lately, but it suited them somehow. Itachi didn't look rumpled and since he had woken up, he had dressed, eaten a full breakfast, read the newspaper over coffee – he was proud he barely needed to use a dictionary for some of the articles, stretched and meditated, talked to Deidara, and started a load of laundry all before he went to his afternoon martial arts class. He didn't really want a companion to come with him, but knew that Deidara would blow his head off if he found out he had gone alone – and he would find out. Jasper had assured him and Deidara that his wolves were entirely at their disposal, but Itachi wondered if the alpha had consulted with his pack before stating this. Something told him, he hadn't, but from what he understood, an Alpha's word was law and so for the last few days since Deidara had left, he had had one of the wolves taking him out instead of the usual humans who belonged to the other vampires in the castle.

The man – he wasn't quite sure what his name was and felt awkward asking after having met all the wolves so often – gave Itachi a sleepy nod and sat down outside of the studio. "I'll be right here, Itachi," he assured him, tipping the enormous coffee mug up with a good-natured grin.

Itachi felt even more guilty that he didn't know the man's name since he knew his own. "Thank you for coming with me," he said, even though he knew the man didn't have much of a choice if Jasper told him to.

Going inside, Itachi greeted the young man at the front counter, checking in the students as they arrived for the class. He skirted the training mat surrounded by mirrors to the locker room in the back so he could put his bag away and change into the light clothes he would be practicing in. He was the first one to arrive, as usual. Most of his classmates were people who had day jobs or classes, so he, with no day time obligations, was always the first one here. He didn't mind. It gave him a chance to warm up for the lesson and sparring by himself. They were all nice and friendly people, but Itachi was cautious about making friends with normal humans.

"So, you hang out with werewolves now?"

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Itachi whirled around to face the Shadow Hunter leaning against one of the lockers looking both bemused and sheepish at startling him. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender and peace. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"What are you doing here?" Itachi demanded, glancing at the door, wondering if he could get to it before the man could, and also how fast the werewolf could enter if he called – he was pretty sure the man would be able to hear him outside. Werewolves were pretty strong, he didn't think they'd have a problem smashing through walls to get there quicker if they wanted. That seemed to happen a lot in the movies he was forced to watch with the others.

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"I said 'no'. How many times do you need to hear it?" Itachi replied coldly, reaching down for his bag.

"I'm not asking you to come with me. I just wanted to talk to you," the man repeated.

"Why? Because we were friends as kids?" Itachi inquired with a raised brow. "I don't remember you at all."

The man's bemused smile widened a little. "Well, I was shorter then," the man suggested. Itachi stared at him, the man was a good head taller than Itachi. His body language was relaxed, and his eyes were hard and steely, yet good-natured. He would say that he was a strange person, but he had met stranger looking people lately.

"What do you want with me?" he asked, glancing once against at the door, then back to the Hunter. He had been learning to defend himself, but he was certain he couldn't take him. The man was a monster in the most human form of the word. It was a compliment to the clothing brand he was wearing that it was holding in his bulky shoulders in without tearing.

"Just… to talk," he said, seeming to notice that the phrase sounded rather unimpressive. "Look, when I told my superiors that you were here, they tried to go through the official channels to get you back. Didn't work—"

"Yes, I know," Itachi glowered at him.

"They wanted me to stay around and see if you'll come back to us," the Hunter said. "They want to know what you know, but if you do come, I probably won't see you again. I just wanted to talk."

"What do you mean 'what I know'?"

"About the blood suckers. The wolves… About where you've been all these years," the man – Kisame Hoshigaki – paused for a minute then frowned at him curiously. "Where have you been exactly?"

"I was in Japan," Itachi replied, feeling apprehensive about being interrogated about Deidara and the wolves by the Shadow Hunter superiors. "And here for the last several months after Deidara approached me." He paused, then turned to face the man fully. "I told the vampire council a long time ago, I went with Deidara willingly. He didn't take me."

"Yeah, I heard, but," he emphasized, folding his arms in thought. He was speaking casually to him and Itachi suddenly realized they were speaking together in Japanese. It had been quite some time since he had someone to speak it to. He was almost put out over how casually he was speaking to him, though. "It doesn't make sense. It's impossible that you were in Japan. We looked for you, you weren't in the house. There were beacons put out for you, we all but used dogs to look for you."

Itachi stared at him, wondering if he was repeating what he had heard or had been there. He didn't look much older than himself. "My mother put a spell on me before she was killed. One that made me seem human so that no monsters would find me."

"Then why couldn't we find you?" Hoshigaki asked, gesturing broadly. Itachi raised an eyebrow, and the man scoffed. "We aren't monsters. How did that blood—"

"Please, don't call him that, Hoshigaki" Itachi interrupted sternly.

"Kisame."

"Kisame. I don't think you'd like if I called you a murderer? A child killer, perhaps?"

"You keep mentioning that," the man murmured, folding his arms again.

"There is a little girl in my house who can't live with her parents because she is the only child left after Shadow Hunters murdered the rest on their way to school," Itachi snapped bitterly, though he tried to keep his voice as even as possible. "The oldest was twelve, taking his four-year-old sister, the youngest, to Kindergarten. They were not monster. Rose isn't a monster either. She's … a little girl who wants to be a fashion designer."

Kisame shook his head as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but didn't deny it happened. "That still doesn't explain why the vampire found you, but we couldn't," he stated.

"Monsters come in different shapes and sizes," Itachi replied coolly. "Not everything that looks like a monster, is one." He turned to walk out of the door, but Kisame reached out and grabbed his arm gently with a protesting word. His touch on his bare arm sent a wave of shock through his body; somewhere, Deidara had sensed his touch, sensed what was touching him, and his anger flared up against his mind. Itachi threw the man off him with strength that wasn't his own and clutched his head as Deidara yelled with both anger and panic.

 _'Stop, Deidara, stop!'_

 _'What is going on?! Where are you?!'_

'I'm at practice. Deidara, you're hurting me!'

"What's wrong?" Kisame was asking him.

 _'Why are you with a Hunter?!'_

 _'I'm alright, I promise.'_ Though he didn't want to, he pushed Deidara back out of his mind, whispering apologies as he shut the door between t hem, baring it shut. He didn't know he could do it until now. The blond wouldn't be happy when he opened it up again, but he would cross that when he came to it.

There were heavy, concerned hands on his back, shaking from his pained gasps, then helped him to his feet again. "What happened? Are you okay?" Kisame was asking.

"Yes, I'm fine," Itachi said, shrugging him off, feeling oddly alone and naked with the door completely shut. "You better go. Deidara's probably going to call someone to come find out what's wrong."

"How could he possibly know?"

"He knows," Itachi said, brushing his concerned hands off again. His classmates were beginning to come in, glancing at the unfamiliar man with curiosity. "Just leave me alone," he added in a hushed tone. "I don't want to know you, I'm sorry. I'm happy here and you should go before the werewolf out front gets a call."

Kisame looked up at the people beginning to put their things away in their lockers, then turned to give Itachi a long look before he walked out of the emergency exit, the door shutting with a loud clatter behind him. The few people who came in earlier asked who Kisame was, but Itachi didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed is things out of his locker and hurried back out the front door, apologizing to his teacher as he pulled his coat on and went outside, startling the werewolf outside.

"What's wrong?" the man asked, standing up in concern.

"I'm sorry, I don't feel very good," he lied, shouldering his bag. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go now…"

"Uh, sure. Whatever you want," he said, then stopped at the car when his phone rank. "Harald," he answered. Itachi glanced back at him. Harald sounded like such an odd name for a werewolf. "Hey, Jasper…. What? He's fine, he's right here. Yeah. Yeah, I'm looking at him." He held his phone out to Itachi saying, "say 'hello' to my Alpha."

"Hallo, Jasper," Itachi obeyed. "Deidara called you?"

"Yes, he was a bit unhappy," Jasper's voice came from the phone's speaker.

"I'm sorry he bothered you," Itachi replied. "Everything is fine."

The drive home was longer than usual and very quiet. Itachi was concentrating on keeping the door to his mind closed. Deidara, full of anger and panic, was pushing up against it. The wolf next to him would glance at him every so often, but didn't question his sudden decision to go home. He could see his reflection in the window as they passed out of the city into the rolling hills and forests of the country area. He did look a little off, maybe he believed that he didn't feel good, but he also could probably smell the Shadow Hunter… or maybe he didn't know what he smelled.

When he was within the safety of the castle, Itachi broke away from his guard and went up to his bedroom and locked the door behind him. He took a deep breath of the comforting smell coming from his crackling fireplace, then sat down on the windowsill Deidara often occupied when they were in here. He liked to look out the window when it was opened.

Decision made, Itachi closed his eyes and leaned back against the cushions that hugged the seating area. He slipped easily into his mind space and walked up the stairs of the library. It was identical to the real library in structure, save for a new door that on the second floor that he was pretty sure didn't exist in the real library – unless there was a hidden door he didn't know about. This door would lead to the mind space he shared with Deidara, but when he opened it, there was nothing to be seen. He wouldn't be able to go through without Deidara there. Pulling the blockages from the main door away, he let Deidara sense where he was going before stepping through the space.

He floated gently, calmly. He could hear the peaceful sounds of water around him, but he didn't drown. He didn't need to breathe here. Itachi read an article once that said being in water helps people think. He certainly enjoyed swimming when he had the chance and made most of his decisions in the shower so perhaps that was true. Deidara was there the same moment he was. Itachi could see his anger plastered on his face, but Deidara truly loved being in this place where he was finally able to cut ties to his cluttered brain. He wouldn't leave out of spite. It was a dirty trick to get him to stay and listen to his reasoning and they both knew it.

"I'm sorry I shut you out," Itachi broke the silence, settling down on the invisible floor. Deidara didn't respond, just continued to glare at him. "You were shouting in my head, I couldn't think."

"Why were you with a Shadow Hunter?" the blond finally asked, his voice was level, obviously angry, but willing to listen to him.

"It was the Shadow Hunter that recognized me that night – before we went to Rome," Itachi explained before telling about the man, Kisame Hoshigaki. The benefit of telling him here was the place itself. It wasn't just a place they shared thoughts. No matter how angry Deidara was, he could see Itachi's thought process and reasoning for keeping this from him. It made sense to Itachi, so it was harder for Deidara to overreact on Deidara's end. "I'm sorry," he added when he was finished. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to be confined to the house."

"I don't like this," Deidara said.

"I know," Itachi said heavily. "I won't go out anymore."

Deidara made a strange noise, but sank into his thoughts instead of speaking. The blond didn't want him going out, but also didn't want him to feel like a prisoner. "Just until I figure something out, un…"

"It's okay," Itachi assured him. "I understand. I'm sorry… Where are you?"

The blond considered his question for a moment and he could faintly hear the solid chugging of a train. "Crossing Russia. I'm on the Trans-Siberian Rail."

"Is it nice?"

"It's supposed to be, but I snuck on," Deidara told him with a smirk. "So… luggage car. But it's safer for me here, un. No one is going to walk in on me during the day."

"I'm glad you're safe."

"I miss you," Deidara's arms slid around him in such a way that he could almost feel him physically there with him. "You seem lonely."

"I miss you also," Itachi admitted. "It's very quiet here."

"I thought you liked quiet," Deidara grinned at him.

"I guess I'm just used to it now. Everyone just seems busy with school and work, but I've been spending a lot of time with the werewolves."

Deidara was pleased he had gotten used to his presence disrupting him continuously when he was trying to study. "I'll be back before you know it, un! And, when I do, I have a surprise for you, un."

"Oh? I'll look forward to you returning more."

"You don't want to guess?" Deidara asked, disappointed.

"It wouldn't be a surprise then."

Deidara rolled his eyes and pressed his nose against his shoulder, breathing him in. "You're no fun."

"Sorry," Itachi smiled at him. "I prefer surprises."

"It's fine… Be careful, un?"

"I promise." His head was given a gentle, forgiving hug before the space dissolved and he was back in his own room alone, looking out at the darkness of the grounds.


	21. Betrayal

Keeping his word, Itachi spent his time in the castle – or at least on the grounds. He sent an email to his martial arts studio, letting them know he was ill and couldn't attend classes. Instead of running to the city and back to attend those classes, he played sports with the wolves who had come to stay in the castle. This was much harder than he imagined when he agreed to participate in a game of soccer. Their strength and speed was like nothing he'd ever seen outside of a vampire's strength. Highly outmatched, he was often at his maximum before they were finished their warm up. Dripping with sweat and gasping for breath, he would sit with the children and watch the adults play. Active sports were the best way the Alphas found to let their packs relieve the stress of being so close together. Rose was the only wolf in the city's pack who lived in the castle permanently, but with Deidara gone and the Denmark pack taking refuge on Deidara's property, Jasper's pack had been taking turns staying over – Rose's parents had been staying in a room across the hall from Rose's bedroom, her mother getting up extra early to drive to work every morning. The resident vampires didn't seem to enjoy this new arrangement very much, but they had to tolerate it because Deidara had invited them all and Itachi stated he liked their presence. The werewolves avoided the vampires as much as they could; those who were not working remotely spent much of their time outside on the grounds that were beginning to be covered with snow shortly after Halloween.

It was strange for him to think about where he was now. The humans in the house hardly talked to him anymore, though Sam was always friendly to him, even though she seemed very busy, and Jack sometimes sent mass pictures of France. He didn't feel he had anything in common with them, and they didn't seem to know what to do with him either. Even the vampires left him alone, but he didn't think it was due to a dislike, but an uncertainty. He represented something strange that they didn't understand, so they avoided him when there was no official business, which had dropped drastically since Deidara was gone. Deidara was always checking up on him, especially during the day when he was unable to move. Even if he didn't speak to him, he could feel his presence watching while he was playing outside, and he could feel the longing he felt to join him in the sun. Sasori surprised him with an extensive email about the different legends of Santa Claus from around the world and a book's serial number for him to read. At the bottom of the email was the notation:

 _'In case you were bored or curious or need a warning if you were feeling particularly contrary.'_

The email was signed with the kanji for the vampire's name. Some of the stories he had read were quite horrifying, but he thanked the redhead anyway and searched for the book.

His friends now were the werewolves. Instead of child vampires, he had child werewolves who chatted extensively and had an unending supply of questions, but would never drive him to frustration. Rose knew when to stop and leave him be or whether to bother him at all. She did, however, insist on being the tailor for all his clothing needs and often asked him to translate Japanese or English web pages for her to read in German. She was also determined to knit him an entire afghan by Christmas, but it was often forgotten when she climbed the largest and oldest tree on the grounds with the other children that seemed to bend it's branches down for their convenience.

It was nearly three weeks after Halloween when it happened. Itachi had been asleep in his bed with the sun barely beginning its skyward climb, when he was awoken by a pain unlike anything he felt before. It was shooting through his thigh. Yelling from the intensity, he threw the heavy blankets off and clutched it. Nothing appeared to be physically wrong with it, yet it felt as though a knife had been driven thought it. Then he felt it again, this time near his collarbone. His shoulder. His arm, his chest. Curled up in a fetal position, shaking from pain, he called out in panic to Deidara, but the blond didn't answer him.

Two simple thoughts ran through his head that were not his.

 _Trap._

 _Run._

Then the pain was gone.

So was Deidara.

Gasping, Itachi stared towards the wall across from his bed that was marred by the curtain pulled around to keep him warm while he slept. Arms wrapped around himself, he ran his thumb over the area just under his collarbone met his shoulder. It had been the most painful there, but he felt no mark. What had happened? As the memory of the pain left him and he could relax, a terrible realization occurred. There was no mark because it hadn't been his pain. He was alone in his head. Deidara had closed the link between their minds because he didn't want Itachi to feel his pain. His pain. Deidara was hurt.

Throwing the blankets off of himself the rest of the way, he reached for the curtain and stopped.

Trap.

What had been a trap? He was certain it was Deidara's thought, a last second message before he closed the bridge between them. What had he meant? A trap? Had his trip been a trap? Had something been there waiting for him when he arrived the night before? Why would the Chinese vampires set a trap for him? Had he really cut him off or was he actually dead?

Panic tried to surge its way out of his chest and into his head, but he forced it down and let logic proceed. He wasn't dead. Itachi was new to this, but he had a feeling if Deidara was dead, there would be no doubt. So he was hurt and keeping the pain from him. Panic wouldn't help Deidara, but how could he help him? Pushing back his curtains, he stepped off the bed and hurried to throw clothes on. Should he go to Belle? Maybe. She was in charge while Deidara was gone, but the blond seemed to trust her only to an extent. What if she tried to take over completely? Kit? Sam? They knew the inner workings well enough, but what could they do as human subordinates? He only just decided to find Jasper and the other wolves, tying the laces of his boots and pulling his coat on when an ear-splitting scream rang through the stone hallways on the other side of the door. It lasted for what felt like a small eternity, bouncing off the walls and up into the high ceiling before it was cut off, replaced by a howl that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Run.

Deidara had said run. Was whatever that hurt the blond coming for him?

Wrenching the door opened, he went out into the hallway, almost wishing he could go back into his room. The sun was shining through the tall windows. It was normally quiet at this time of day, but today there were sounds. Doors slamming far away. Closer yells. Barks. Screams. Gunfire. He really wanted to go back into his room, but that was a dead end and he'd be trapped.

Run.

But where? Where could he run? Where was he supposed to go? Unsure of what to do, he crouched low and walked quietly along the wall towards the main hallway and stairwell going towards the main entrance.

Shadow Hunters.

Lots of them.

They were fighting the wolves, some in wolf form, some in human form. They were fighting with humans he didn't recognize, but when a few tried to shield a vampire from the morning sun that lit up the walls they must be the other vampire's in the house's humans. His stomach clenched when he saw Sam crying for help as a Shadow Hunter tried to drag her outside, but a wolf leapt onto the Hunter and she broke away, running out of the door away from the chaos of the fight. A putrid smell filled his nose suddenly and he covered it and his mouth to keep his gag reflex from reacting. It only took a few seconds to realize the smell was burning flesh as the Hunters managed to pull the humans off their vampire and drag him into the sunlight outside. Shaking, he peered closer and bit his lip. Vampires don't burst into flames and dust like the movies. Deidara had told him that before already. This vampire smoldered, his skin bubbling and smoking, crackled and blackened. The muscles cooked as the man screamed, his limbs held down by shining knives driven into his bones. Those knives were what was holding Deidara. He didn't know how he knew that, but, rubbing his shoulder where memories of pain lingered, he knew.

He had to get out. The way to the garage was blocked. The way to the kitchen gardens would take too long. Deidara's room had a hidden tunnel.

He got up and started to move with a crouch before two giant wolves came pelting down the hallway and leapt, snarling over Itachi to meet the Shadow Hunters coming up the stairs. A red one and a black one. The red one paused, turning to stare intently at Itachi. Dolphus. His panic for himself was replaced quickly for that of his friends. Rose and the children. He nodded to the wolf and spun on his heels to run back up the corridor to Rose's room.

"Rose," he called into her room, pushing the door open. He didn't see anyone inside at first, but finally spotted the girl hiding under her desk. She was still in her nightgown, her bathrobe, clutching her chair as a guard. "Rose, come with me."

She shook her head, eyes wide. Terrified.

"Rose," he said, his voice gentler as he knelt down. "Come with me. I need to get you away from the people attacking the castle."

"No, no," she whimpered, pulling the chair closer to her. "I want mutti and vati."

"They're protecting the house," Itachi told her, sitting down on the floor cross legged. It was difficult because he was on alert and desperately wanted to run. "Rose, it's our job to protect the other kids. We have to get them to safety."

"I'm scared," she said.

"I know," he said, holding his hand out. "But we have to be brave. You're part of the pack. It's your job to protect our guests." She considered this, her strong hands causing the wooden chair legs to creak, before she slowly pushed the chair away and crawled out from the desk. "Get your coat and put shoes on."

She obeyed and together they made their way to the southern wing, taking the side corridors and servant stairwells to avoid the fighting. He held his hand out to stop her before they turned the last corner to the corridor where the Denmark wolves slept. There were three men standing in front of one of the doors, arguing.

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered. "I should have heard them."

"It's okay," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

"They're just kids." He blinked and peeked out again. Kisame Hoshigaki was standing there.

"They're monsters."

"They're too young to know if they'll change," Kisame growled.

"Doesn't matter," said the third man. "They're dogs. Baby monsters."

"I'm not killing kids."

"You're under orders."

"Not to kill kids."

"They said use whatever necessary," the hunger in the man's voice made Itachi's skin crawl. "Fine, I'll do it."

Itachi started around the corner in alarm, but a few quick movements and the two men were dropped to the ground heavily. Kisame gave a choice curse and looked around, spotting Itachi.

"Get them out of here," the big man said to him.

Itachi motioned to Rose to wake up all the kids and went into one himself. It only took a few moments before all the kids were assembled, wearing boots and coats over their pajamas. Felix took a look at one of the men on the ground and gave a terrified cry and clutched Itachi's leg, speaking in frantic Danish he didn't understand. Lizzy, one of the older children stared from him to the men then up to Itachi with wide eyes.

"He is one who killed our friend back home," she said, white faced as she pointed. "Felix said. Where is mamma?"

A loud crashing behind them caused them all to jump and stare, shrinking into a huddle together. The fighting was growing closer, a few corridors away. Swallowing, Itachi turned to the children, placing a finger to his mouth and motioned for them to follow him. They nodded, mimicking the shushing gesture and crept after him. He was glad Deidara had given him a map. Glad for his good sense of direction. He knew the castle very well now, knew the short cuts and the less used paths.

He stopped suddenly and turned. "What?"

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "We'd better hurry. They're coming for you, Itachi."

Itachi wanted to demand why he was following him, but didn't have time. They had to get the children away from here. Trying not to let him see how scared he felt, he led them, holding hands like they had been taught, up a stairwell to double back to Deidara's corridor. Kisame stopped to stare at the painting of Sasori, almost as if he recognized him, but then tried to follow them inside the room.

"Don't follow us," Itachi snapped, blocking his way.

"You can't stop me," Kisame informed him with a smirk. "I'm coming too."

"What did you do to Deidara?" he demanded in a low voice he hoped wouldn't get picked up by the over sensitive ears of the werewolf pups behind him, even though he was quite sure they didn't understand Japanese.

"I don't know," Kisame muttered back, trying to step into the room, but Itachi blocked him again. "Look, I wasn't told. I was just put on the team that was given the order that we got in and were to get you."

"A way in?" Itachi repeated with a frown.

Kisame waved his hand as if he couldn't say and glanced down the hallway. "Look we have to go if you're going to get the kids away from the fighting, now. They are coming for you, they know you are here. Who you are, I mean. I don't know what happened to your vampire, okay?"

Itachi looked down at the kids staring wide eyed at him and the new room that probably smelled a lot like Deidara to them. They had all their coats over their nightclothes, but there was snow on the ground yesterday and he was worried it wouldn't be warm enough. He didn't want to leave the sanctuary of the castle, even if it had been breached, but there wasn't time to think about it and there wasn't time to argue with this Shadow Hunter. He had to get the children away from the danger. Giving Kisame a nasty look, he crossed the room and pushed the bed away from the wall to click and push open the low panel Deidara had told him about many weeks ago. Always have a way out, was what the blond had told him. At the time, he had thought it was just some silly thing Deidara thought was a game. Now, he was grateful.

One of the children said something and shook his head, but Rose took his hand and gave him an assuring nod while she stepped up confidentially to the tunnel, going in when Itachi gestured for her to go. The other children followed her as Itachi gave the room another once over, reaching to grab the messenger bag Deidara usually took with him everywhere and followed Kisame into the tunnel, carefully pulling the bed back to its marker and closed the small door shut with a click, plunging them all into darkness. There was a soft click and a flashlight came on, pointed towards the ground so as not to blind them all. The tunnel was meant for someone much smaller than an adult, or for someone who could move quickly doubled over. It was wide enough for the children to walk four side-by-side, but they didn't. They clung to the wall and each other as if to hide themselves from whatever devilry had woken them. Their wide eyes reflecting eerily from the flashlight in Kisame's hand. It made Itachi nervous to see them. Until they were older, werewolves didn't know whether or not their children would be able to turn. He had no doubt these would one day; he could only hope their terror wouldn't cause them to change now.

"Where does this tunnel lead?" Kisame asked as they paused.

"I'm not sure," Itachi admitted. "I have never used it before." He felt to make sure Deidara's bag was safely over his shoulder. The blond had it with him wherever he went, but had told him he didn't need to take it on this trip when he wasn't planning on pretending to be human. Itachi had seen him pull out IDs and money, so he hoped it would have something useful. "What did you mean before?" he asked Kisame, speaking to him in Japanese so as not to scare the children anymore. Kisame gave him a curiously polite look, so he added, "when you said you had a way in."

"Well, the place is protected," Kisame explained as if that was obvious. "The vampire's the Master of the City, right? He's gotta protect his nest or whatever he calls it, and this one had a spell around the place. You need permission to be on the grounds, otherwise you can't get through. And if you force your way through, it sets off warnings and alarms."

Itachi stared at him, a cold feeling running down his spine that had nothing to do with the cool stale air around them. "Someone let you in?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, she came to the base we have near the city and told us who you were. Said that Deidara had you in some sorting binding contract with him," Kisame told him, looking at him searchingly. "The base set up a team. She invited us in."

She? Itachi's brain reeled a moment. There were a few women living in the castle, but there were only three who had permission to invite people onto the grounds without Deidara's expressed agreement. Belle, who was the second in command among Deidara's vampires, and Sam and Kit, who were extensions of Deidara as his humans. He had to swallow a few times before he could speak again. "Who was it?"

"Dunno," Kisame said with a shrug. "Never got her name."

"What did she look like?" Itachi demanded, trying to keep the anger in his voice down.

"Kinda tall, white hair?" Kisame shrugged. "Didn't seem important."

Itachi stared at him, swallowing hard, but movement nearby distracted him and he turned to look over at Rose who was staring at him, shaking with stress. The skin around her eyes were dark and her eyes were beginning to glint with something that was not her usual green. Her wolf was lingering just below the surface. "Rose," he said softly, kneeling down lower as he had been taught to act around werewolves. "You can't change here Rose. We have to get out of the tunnel and find your parents, okay?"

Her lower lip trembled. "I'm scared… she's scared. She wants to come out," she whimpered. "To keep us safe."

"She?" Kisame asked with a curious stare.

"M-my wolf," she stammered, looking at him in terror. She knew what he was, even if the other pups didn't.

"Rose you're not strong enough to change without your pack," Itachi said in a gently voice, mimicking the words her father had said to her before.

"You're a wolf," Kisame stated, ignoring Itachi.

"I-it… doesn't really… I… it's hard to explain," she trembled, staring at Itachi. "I can't stop her." Letting go of the pups hands, she tugged off her coat and nightgown, and let herself change. Itachi had never seen one of the wolves change before. It was both horrifying and fascinating at the same time. Her bones cracked and shifted, hair long blond hair receded as her skin stretched and grew fur. It took a very long time, Itachi and Kisame both wincing at the pained sounds she was making. Itachi wanted to reach out to comfort her, but was stopped by one of the older children, who shook their head frantically. No touching. Nearly twenty minutes went by before she stilled and stepped out of the snow boots she had been wearing. She was the size of a real wolf, but much smaller than the rest of her adult pack. Her fur was dark in the tunnel, but Itachi knew it to be a grey. The children stared at her wide eyed, but unafraid as she finally stood on shaking four legs and shook herself. She gave a soft dog-like whine before taking the sleeve of the girl closest to her in her gentle, but huge teeth and began tugging them deeper into the tunnel.

"This is a really bad idea," Kisame muttered as they followed, nearly bent double. "She could attack them. Walking in an enclosed tunnel with a kid wolf with no contr—"

"She won't hurt them," Itachi assured him. Rose's wolf had never been something he was scared of. Jasper kept his pack under a gentle, but firm hand and her parents had raised her well, teaching her to control her instincts and her wolf. From what he had been told, being werewolf was like having two souls inside you, they were you, but they were also different from you. Much like his own connection with Deidara sometimes. Rose had told him weeks ago that her wolf really liked him, he knew she wouldn't hurt him unless she thought Itachi was a threat to Rose. Kisame on the other hand, he wasn't sure about, so he took the flashlight and walked in front of him.

He wasn't sure how far they walked before the tunnel began to move upward and Rose was yipping down at him. There was a trap door and she couldn't open it in wolf form. Bracing himself, he pushed the door upward and blinked at the sudden dazzling sunlight around him. The tunnel had taken them to the closest edge of the grounds. He could see the castle in the distance and behind him was white washed buildings that may have been the back of stores. Rose hopped out of the tunnel after him and he helped Kisame bring the rest of the children up, telling them to crouch low and stay out of sight. Reaching out, he gave Rose's miserably flattened ears a gentle rub. She was still shaking with stress, her tail tucked between her legs. He wondered if he should take them further, but didn't know where was safe.

"Why did you follow us?" he demanded of the Hunter who knelt nearby, switching again to Japanese.

Kisame stared at him a moment before folding his huge arms across his chest. "You're wrong," he stated. "I don't kill children. I've never killed a kid before in my life." He looked down at Rose and indicated towards her. "That's the girl you were talking about, right? The fashion designer?"

"That doesn't answer my question," Itachi pressed, glaring at him. Kisame's answer was only a shrug, infuriating him. He didn't know whether or not the pups were safe. "What happened to Deidara?" he pressed instead.

"All I know is that the girl told us who you were and offered to give us a chance to take you back home, but we had to separate you from the vampire first," he explained. "And stop whatever he had done to you."

"Stop it?" Itachi repeated incredulously. "I asked for it. He didn't do anything I didn't want. I'm his Human Servant. You can't stop that."

"The Mage council thinks they can," Kisame replied, raising and dropping a shoulder. "After that you will be free to come back to us."

"I don't want to come back," Itachi snapped. "I am happy here. Does no one care what I want?

Kisame was saved from answering the question by Rose, who had given a loud whine at the sound of howling in the distance and threw her head back. A long drawn out howl sounded from her throat, echoing off the trees and into the morning air. Kisame moved forward, hurriedly making shushing sounds, but an answer already sounded from the other side of the grounds near the castle. She wagged her tail happily. "Wolf," Kisame snapped. "You just called your pack over here." He turned to face the grounds, reaching for his weapons.

Itachi grabbed Kisame's hand to stop him. "They are coming for their children," he informed him. "You can't attack them."

"And what about when they attack us?"

"They won't," Itachi replied, "because we won't be here."

"We won't?" Kisame questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Itachi ignored him and knelt down next to Rose, reaching out to gently pat her head. "I need to go find Deidara," he whispered in her ear. "He needs my help." He was unsure whether or not she understood him in wolf form, but gave her a finally ear rub and shouldered Deidara's bag. Giving the castle his back, he hurried through the trees away from the oncoming wolves. The buildings were close by and he knew that if he didn't get away, the wolves would catch them. He didn't think the wolf parents would take kindly to two people smelling like Shadow Hunters near their precious children after their safe haven was attacked.

As he reached the first building, he grabbed onto the fire escape and hauled himself up for extra precautions. The metal rattled in his arms as Kisame followed him and when the man's feet were planted on the roof with him, safe from any sniffing wolves, Itachi grabbed him, ignoring the height and bulk of the other man.

"What did they do with Deidara?" he demanded. "You must know something. Where is he?"

"I don't know," Kisame replied, looking a little startled by his tone.

"Where would they take him?"

"I don—"

"You must have some idea," Itachi insisted, giving him a shake.

"Who cares about that bloods—"

"I do! And I told you not to call him that," Itachi growled. "Think. Hard."

Kisame continued to stare down at him, though he didn't fight his hold. Itachi couldn't tell what the taller man was thinking, but he didn't care either. Kit had set this trap. She had wanted the Shadow Hunters to separate their bond as vampire and Human Servant. He couldn't believe the betrayal he felt. The pain that had woken him not long ago was still burned in his memory, despite the fact that he could no longer feel Deidara in his mind. He hated this feeling. Hated being blocked out, alone and empty. When he had first come to Germany, he had wanted to be left alone. Now… he pined for those he considered friends. He wanted Deidara back in his head, but no matter how hard he pushed against the barrier between them, he couldn't get through. The Shadow Hunter before him didn't understand that. All the Shadow Hunters saw was a dangerous vampire.

"Maybe the House of Angels?" was his reply.

"The House of Angels?" Itachi repeated with a frown. He had heard that somewhere before… or read it. "Where is that?"

"The United States," Kisame replied. "But they won't be able to take him there for a while."

Ignoring the expression on Kisame's face – he clearly thought Itachi was crazy, Itachi let go of him and began pacing way to stare over the street below. People were walking to their coffee shops, preparing for work. They didn't know that one of their city's numbers was missing. Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself, the icy air blowing dusty snow around him. Why wouldn't they move him? The answer came almost instant. It was because he was too strong. They had to starve him, weaken him. How long had he been in Rom? A month. The vampire council had kept him almost a full month to properly punish him and Deidara had told him he hadn't fed properly in a while after that. Deidara would have gone in fed and strong. And he had his connection with Itachi to make him even stronger. He had time to make a plan.

A soft, interested noise behind him made him turn around to look at Kisame who was staring towards the castle grounds. Itachi looked too and saw what had impressed the Hunter. A shimmer of light of color was traveling across the air as though an invisible wall had caught the light. It moved like a wave passed them and then was gone. He looked down where it had touched the ground and knew that the barrier that kept out unwanted guests had been reestablished. Perhaps Chloe had been told what happened and adjusted the barrier to keep everyone safe. He wondered if the wolves had killed all the attacking Shadow Hunters or driven them out. He wanted to go home, but knew if he did, Jasper wouldn't allow him to go after Deidara.

Kneeling down, he set the messenger bag on the roof top and opened it to examine the contents. There was an assortment of items inside, a few passports – including one with Itachi's picture in it which he hadn't known Deidara had made, IDs and a small handful of tools such as Deidara's favorite lockpick he had been complaining he couldn't find a month or so ago. A notebook with Deidara's quick handwriting scrawled across the pages along with a few doodles. Duct tape. Keys. A DS. Strong. Loose change. A crazy straw. Bobby pins. A soft and thin leather wallet. It seemed odd that he didn't take his wallet with him, but Itachi supposed as a vampire, such things that required money weren't very necessary. Opening it, he was pleased to find cards and quite a lot of large Euro bills tucked on one side of the wallet. The other side had an assortment of paper money from different countries. He recognized Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, United States dollars, and some money from countries he didn't know.

"Damn, your vampire's loaded," Kisame commented with a whistle, peering over Itachi's shoulder. "Isn't he supposed to be some crazy kid? How'd he make this much bank?"

Itachi decided not to answer that question. The blond was quite crazy, but in ways that were difficult to explain to someone who wasn't entirely trustworthy. "Should be enough," he said instead. He didn't know how much was on the cards.

"Enough for what"?"

"Getting to China," Itachi replied darkly, putting everything back in the bag carefully. How that was going to be a good idea, he hadn't figured out yet, but if the people who hurt Deidara would be unable to move him for so long, he had to do something. He would go crazy waiting.

Kisame looked at as though he thought Itachi was already crazy. "Why would you want to do that?

"Because that is where Deidara went before he was attacked," Itachi replied, glaring at him. That should have been obvious. Pulling the bag over his shoulder again, he peered down the streets and slipped back down the fire escape again. The werewolves hadn't followed them. Maybe they were too concerned about their children. Swallowing nervously, he pressed his forehead against the metal bar and took a deep breath. If he was decent, he should try to find out if the others had escaped or needed help. The vampires and the other humans. He told himself that going back was a bad idea and Deidara was far more important. Without Deidara, no one would be safe.

He walked down the street to the public library to use the internet because he didn't have his phone. Deidara had decided to go to Moscow before getting on the train on foot, but there was no way Itachi was going to make it to Russia by walking. Instead, he made plans to fly to Moscow before getting on the same train Deidara had. Retracing the blond's steps seemed like the best idea at the time. He hadn't told Itachi exactly where he needed to go, but sometimes Deidara memories came to him like déjà vu. He didn't buy Kisame a ticket, a bit hopeful that he would lose him at a ticket barrier, but the Hunter didn't comment as he continued to follow him like a new pet he didn't want. He didn't believe Kisame that he didn't know anything.

"How did you know we were there? In that castle?" Kisame asked, interjecting conversation hours later as they sat down on the Trans-Siberian Railway in a private compartment, away from the other passengers. They would take this train until they had to transfer to the Trans-Mongolian Line that would take them to Beijing. The large man had been silently following and observing him since they left the rooftop. Itachi had watched him flash something in front of the airport attendant and she didn't ask for a ticket when he walked through security, who hadn't even blinked at the weapons Kisame wore – more magic, he supposed, and onto the plane and he did the same thing when they got on the train. "Everyone was supposed to be asleep."

Itachi looked across the compartment at him, then turned to stare out the window, wondering if he should continue his bout of silence. Part of the flimsy plan he had shaped up was to convince Kisame to take him to where they might be holding Deidara, so maybe he should try being friendly.

"The werewolves don't stay up all night like vampires," Itachi told him. "That's why they were awake. And I knew because I felt it," he added, reaching up to touch his collar bone where the pain had been greatest that morning. "Those knives they were holding Jason—"

"Who?"

"The vampire… the knives they were holding him down in the main entrance. They would have stabbed Deidara with them to hold him, too?"

"Yeah. They have magicked silver embedded in the metal," Kisame said, shifting his weight to face him better. "You felt it? Us coming in?"

"No, I felt Deidara being attacked."

"How?" the man questioned, not even bothering to hide his curiosity.

"Why did you stop those men from hurting the pups?" Itachi asked instead.

The man ran his hand through his dark hair – it caught the light and Itachi saw it was actually dyed a deep blue – before leaning back in his seat. "I've never been on a train like this," he commented casually. His eyes flicked back at Itachi who was staring patiently at him. "Look," he said, sitting up again and leaned forward. "You're wrong about us. We're not bad guys. We're not evil or whatever they've been telling you."

"Please explain then."

Kisame didn't look happy about having to explain everything to him; Itachi suspected he had the same feeling he did. What was too much? How much was too much? However, he must have realized that they were going to be on this train together for quite s a few days and might as well because he took his jacket off and dropped it on the cushions next to him. "What… have they been telling you?" he asked after a moment of thought.

Itachi searched his mind for what he had heard of them so far. Tal had said a few things in Rome, Deidara had made passing comments. Sasori had spoken about them before during his lectures. "Someone told me once," he said quietly. "That they are a race of humans that don't believe they're connected to other humans. They believe they came from the sky like angels. They believe their blood is pure, so they hate other species that naturally feed on other creatures like humans who Shadow Hunters favor."

"Who told you that?" Kisame asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Was he incorrect?" If so, Itachi wasn't going to be the one who told Sasori he was wrong.

"N-no, I just never really heard it put like that," Kisame said, shaking his head. "Shadow Hunters are the only human-like species that never prays on humans for food."

"Not all paranormal species eat people," Itachi interjected. "How would you explain them then?"

"Uh… Look, I'm not a good story teller. I'm a soldier, that's my job. Shadow Hunters use their skills to stop monsters from killing everyone on the planet. Each species has their own leaders, but you know – power corrupts and all that. Monsters in charge of monsters. From what I remember of the mythology, our ancestors came when the demons began to walk the earth, that's why some people think we have angel blood."

"Do you?"

"Dunno. Never met an angel to ask."

Itachi allowed this information to process as he turned to stare out the window again. "What happened to my parents?" he asked softly.

"There's Shadow Hunters all over the world," Kisame began. "Just like monsters. Your family lived down the street of mine in Saitama. I remember yours always had a lot of respect because how large and powerful it was…" he trailed off and his reflection in the window looked uncomfortable. "Are you sure you want to talk about this?"

"Yes."

Kisame gave a small sigh and ran his hands over the small dagger strapped to his rib by a leather strap. "Your parents were beginning to pull away from traditions. They were association with werewolves and vampires and witches, meeting with demons to try to gain more power. Before the Japanese council could confront them, the demons turned on them…" He shifted and crossed his legs. "My family was the first one the scene. The whole House of Uchiha had been killed. I was just a kid, same as you, but I helped the others search for survivors, but we never found any… We didn't find you."

"The human police found me," Itachi told him softly. "I lived in foster homes and orphanages until I was old enough to receive a scholarship to live in an apartment during high school."

"And then that bl—sorry. Than that vampire found you?"

"Yes. Deidara found me," Itachi replied, purposefully using his name. "He found me on the anniversary of … their deaths."

"Why didn't he drain you?" the curiosity in Kisame's voice was unhidden.

Itachi shrugged and consented to look back at him. "I don't know," he admitted. "He never actually told me, but not all vampires drain the people they feed on. Rarely, do they. There were five other humans living with me and Deidara, and one who lived in the city. All the vampires living there have humans living there tooa and they work for Deidara."

"So… he gave you room, board, money…. All that… for what? You just let him bite you when he wants?"

"He doesn't very often," Itachi muttered, deciding not to inform his travel companion that his embarrassment over the physical reaction to the bite was the reason for this. Deidara wanted to feed from him much more than he let on.

"So… what then? Seems too good to be true."

"Maybe they're not evil or whatever they've been telling you," Itachi suggested with a half-smile.

"Maybe," was the non-committing reply.

"Will you get in trouble for stopping those men from hurting the pups and following me?"

"Following you?" Kisame repeated with a raised eyebrow. "I'm keeping you safe. The ones who were supposed to pick you up are probably in worse trouble. And who's to say it wasn't you who knocked those guys out, hm?"

"You know I'm taking you with me to make sure I get to Deidara, right?"

Kisame gave him a very toothy grin. His teeth were sharpened to a point. Another weapon for the soldier. Itachi thought it made him look like a shark. "Yep. You know I'm taking you cause you're walking right into their hands, right?"

"I don't intend to hand myself over to them."

Really, he didn't know what he intended to do. This was the dumbest thing he had every done. Perhaps even worse than willingly following someone he was sure would kill him into an expensive apartment. Without Deidara, he had nothing. He had grown so used to living under the generous protection Deidara gave him that his sense of independence had grown soft. He hadn't lived among the vampires long enough to have connections like Tal did. Maybe he should call the other Human Servant for advice. In his haste to follow Deidara's last instruction, he hadn't brought his phone or computer, but he was sure he had the man's phone number memorized. It was long distance though. He didn't know how to dial long distance from a pay phone. He was alone.

The only person he could call for help was the person he was trying to save.

And then he had an idea.

Instead of spending most of his time coming up with a plan, Itachi spent the next four days digging around in his mind space, patiently searching books, nooks, crannies, behind bookcases, up the fireplace chimney. Kisame would come and go as he pleased, occasionally bringing back from the dinner gar. He would give Itachi odd looks at his continual stillness, but didn't bother him too much. It was frustrating, this search, but Itachi wasn't expecting it to be easy. The Hunter with him finally suggested that the brunette take some time off from his thoughts because he could see smoke coming from his ears. Itachi assured him there was absolutely nothing coming from his ears, but agreed to take some time to stretch his legs.

The train was smooth and quiet. It was also very beautiful, like a prop of an old-fashioned movie. He enjoyed walking up and down the train, observing the people and the foreign voices. It was night time, but the wintery wonderland outside was lit by a memory of the sun, reflecting the strange light that made the time of day impossible to determine. A pleasant voice spoke in a few different languages informing the passengers that there would be an unscheduled stop so that the crew could clear off ice and snow; complimentary hot beverages would be provided and please remain on the train. Itachi continue to look out the windows of the empty dining car he had stopped at, he wondered why anyone would want to go outside in the snow.

He had never seen so much of it in person before. A small smile creased his face, thinking about how the household had made plans for Christmas decorations and snow adventures. They wanted to take him skiing, build snowmen, ice skate. It would be his first Christmas in a household setting. A European Christmas, which was much different than those in Japan which celebrated the holiday as a couples' holiday. His smile disappeared, remembering that it wasn't going to happen now. It was only mid-November, but how long would it take to get Deidara back? How long would it take to return home? How long would it take to make it a home again? What had happened to everyone?

Mulling over the ways he could possibly contact one of them, he stared sadly out at the falling snow.

It took him a moment before he realized that something was staring back.


	22. Lost Threads

Itachi stumbled away from the window in shock, slamming into the tables security tightly to the cabin in his haste to get away. Wincing, he crouched low and rubbed his thigh to comfort his throbbing muscles. There was no way the thing outside hadn't seen him, but his instincts screamed at him to hide. Above his head, a terrible screeching scrapped across the glass window. Four trails were visible on the outside window panel and Itachi had looked up just in time to see a clawed hand disappearing from view.

A tense moment passed in silence. His own heart thudding against his ribs, so loud, he was sure that it could be heard, perhaps even outside the car. Part of his brain wanted to deny what his eyes had seen, but Itachi was logical and the maimed glass was a contrary testimony to that part of his brain. If he ran out of the compartment, the thing might follow. It would put the rest of the train's passengers in danger. But then, Kisame would be good for something at least. He had just made the decision to bolt for the door that separating the train cars to find Kisame, when the doors that led outside began to open, its metal screamed in protest. It was coming into the train.

The creature that slid through the forced opening was lithe, long matted hair hanging, limp and dark, over its face. Its skin was a dull ash color, as though it had once been a rich dark, but had paled and lost its life. Its clothes were in rags, but as the head lifted to look at him, he realized it was both humanoid and female. Her nose flared and shrank as she sniffed the air in his direction. Her lips cracked as she smiled at him, showing a mouth full of long pointed teeth. She crept towards him, blocking his way out of the car to other humans. As she moved forward, he backed away, searching in his peripheral vision for a weapon of some sort, too scared to look away from her. Finally hitting the wall, Itachi swallowed, unable to go anywhere as she lifted his hand to touch his jaw with an anticipating lick of her lips. Up close, he saw that she did not have claws, but long, thick, broken nails. Her touch was gentle, almost sensual, but Itachi was too terrified to move.

Staring at her bloodshot eyes, he felt a familiar approach of death. He had seen this death before in a different form. He had seen those teeth and he had felt that useless pull.

This was a vampire.

There was something terribly wrong with this vampire, but he had no idea what. She was going to kill him. Drain him. Her clawed finger trailed down his neck and stopped at the thin chain of the necklace resting over his clavicle. Her attention left his face as she bent her face down, frighteningly close to his neck to examine the little pieces spaced over the chain. Over her head, he saw Kisame wander into the car, his curious expression changed to battle ready instantly and he reached into his jacket to pull out a long silvery pike like dagger, but a raspy voice caused Itachi's fear and the Hunter to pause.

"Deidara… Playful child…"

Itachi stared down at the creature fingering the necklace Deidara had given him months ago before they had gone to the vampire council. She seemed to be trying to remember something long forgotten. She whispered the name again as if she didn't know why she had said it, then again with clarification.

"I'm Deidara's Human Servant," Itachi blurted out, his voice an octave higher than he would have liked it to be. Her eyes gave him a sharp and intelligent stare, the monstrous bloodlust temporarily quelling as she continued to roll the necklace in her fingers. An icy chill slid down his back as he gave Kisame a sharp jerk of his head, trying to tell him not to stab this vampire in the back.

"Lies," she hissed softly, her nails scratching his skin.

"It's true," he assured her, trying not to notice the way her eyes suddenly focused on her hand. She must have broken skin. He watched her, noticing the way she shifted her glance that she knew Kisame was in the room as well. He had never laid eyes on this vampire before, but somewhere in the back of his thoughts he knew her and that minor part of his brain threw a guess into the air while the rest of his body was paralyzed with fear. "You… you're Kali, aren't you?"

Her other hand squeezed his shoulder painfully. "Lies," she growled again, her lips parting as though to bite him.

"Tal is my friend," he cried out wildly, trying to catch her attention again. He knew immediately that he had said the right thing. Or the wrong thing. Either way, she stopped moving her mouth to bite him, but instead, slammed his body painfully back against the wall of the cabin.

Kisame moved to help him, but she whipped around and pointed at him. "Don't you move, deathbringer! I will kill the boy before you can take another step!" she shrieked at him.

"Tal is alive," Itachi gasped out, his feet inches from the ground. "He's healthy. He misses you, Kali. He told me about you… a-about how you came to hear him play mus—"

"YOU LIE!" she cried, her expression anguished and wild.

"He came to Deidara's castle and stayed with us," Itachi told her, gripping her wrists. "He played a bansuri for you on Halloween."

"He did," she whispered, though it sounded more like a question. "Oh, my Tal…" She released him and let him fall back to the ground again, Itachi pulling at his clothes to straighten them. Kisame took another step towards her and she whirled around, the monster reviving again. "I told you to stay put, Hunter!" she shrieked. "I smell your bloodlust! It is as powerful as my own!" When Kisame stopped, she turned back to Itachi, her voice softer, growing less ragged as she used it more. "Where is he? My Tal."

"He's in Rome right now," he told her. "He stayed with us for a few weeks to help me manage the exchange with Deidara and went home after Halloween."

"Deidara is such a kind boy," Kali murmured, more to herself than the two men before her. Her eyes turned away from Itachi and stared passed Kisame to the open door, her nose flaring.

"No one on this train is your dinner, vampire," Kisame warned, brandishing the silver knife again. "I will not allow you to harm anyone here. You lost control of your hunger—"

"Do not speak of what you do not know, boy," she spat.

"You're not what I expected," Itachi quietly broke the silence, looking at her, studying her features. He really wasn't sure what he had expected.

"I am not myself," she replied, almost apologetically.

"You lost—"

"I did not lose control!" Kali shrieked at Kisame, her fangs flashing angrily. "I am not an inexperienced New Blood!"

Itachi moved off the wall and stepped between them. "I know that. I… I don't know what you did when you were whole, but I know you didn't lose control," he said, trying to push any fear of her down. Fear would entice her. It enticed Deidara and even Sasori would turn and stare if he felt terror washing off someone. "I know," he added with emphasis.

"Itachi … she's Bloodstarved," Kisame said, his tone one that would be used to speak to a child.

" _She_ didn't lose control," Itachi interjected as Kali's growl rose. His voice was calmer than he expected it to be. "I know, Kali. You were set up… poisoned by a Shadow Hunter."

He looked back at Kisame and saw Kisame's skeptical face suddenly become suspiciously blank. "Oh," he said, almost awkwardly. Itachi turned his head to face him, frowning. Kisame cleared his throat. "Well… that's illegal," he told Itachi. Illegal, not impossible. "It breeches peace treaties and stuff like that. It's stupid, really. There's plenty that lose control on their own."

A sudden thought came to him. "Is there an antidote?"

"Magic and poisons aren't really my thing," the man admitted with a shrug. "But probably?"

Kali's dark eyes grew wild, but Itachi blocked her way to Kisame again. "Where? Where would they keep something like that?" he asked.

"The House of Angels."

"It is a city build on the bones and carnage of their ancestors," Kali spat.

"How do you kno—"

"I have fought this curse longer then you've been alive, boy," she snarled at the man. "Itachi is correct. Your fellows poisoned me. They did not want the peace I was seeking. The Shadow Hunters, for all your righteous ways, are more bloodthirsty than the monsters they chase. I see thirst in your eyes. You have killed and you have enjoyed it."

Kisame didn't deny her accusations, but frowned as he contemplated her words in silence.

"Did you board the train to try and feed?" Itachi asked her in the following silence.

"It was difficult to resist," she crooned, nostrils moving again to catch the scent of the train passengers. "I could feel the heartbeats from my nest. You were alone. I thought… I thought I would try to feed safely." Her eyes closed, "but you are Deidara's. I have not passed the point to which I would betray my friend. I am still a lady of the court." Some ghost of pride seemed to swell in her, yet she glanced at Kisame and the knowledge that _he_ wasn't Deidara's seemed to come to all their minds at once.

"Tal," Itachi hurried out again, "is my friend." The man's name had caught her attention before and it did so again. She turned to look at him as if hopeful she would say his name again. "I will search for the cure. He told me about you. He told me how you came to listen to him perform music in a garden, and how much he loved talking with you, you were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He loves you very much; he called you his _priyatam_." The word sounded strange coming from his own mouth, but it drew out something in her. The monster slipped away and he saw a beautiful woman in her face under the dirt and hunger. A kind and patient woman who laughed easily and loved fiercely. She stood before them transfixed in a tender memory that fought against her affliction. The stillness was shattered by a voice thanking the passengers for their patience and informing them all to return to their seats. The train's journey would start again in two minutes. None of them moved in those two minutes. The train lurched slowly forward, Itachi and Kisame gripping things to keep themselves upright while Kali made up for their clumsiness with her own grace. She balanced easily and turned like a dancer to face Itachi.

"You travel with a lover of violence," she told him. "Be cautious and careful on the road. You must have your reasons for being away from Deidara, but when you are finished, please send my love to my Tal."

"I will."

"What is your name, child?"

"Itachi," he told her. "Itachi Uchiha."

"Itachi Uchiha," she inclined with her head, "Human Servant of Deidara. I thank you." With little effort, she opened the door of the trained and leapt out into the snow rushing by.

The door slid shut again, closing off the icy wind that sucked the heated air from the car. Shivering, Itachi rubbed his arms before his fingers itched to touch the necklace around his neck. It had been given to him so long ago and Tal had recognized it then. Now Kali had as well. He was glad he had gotten used to wearing it. It wasn't one of the many things that Deidara indicated he was happy about him wearing, so Itachi never thought it was that big of a deal. He had never expected to meet her, though he wanted to. He especially wouldn't have expected to meet her here, but as he stared out of the window, he decided this was a well-placed area to stay and try to control oneself. Nothing but the train tracks for miles, maybe animal to eat, but the trains weren't supposed to stop, leaving her free of walking or running temptations. He allowed his eyes to focus on the window instead of through it and saw Kisame looking perplexed and thoughtful.

"Thanks for stopping her from attacking me," he said when he noticed Itachi looking at him. "Don't know how you did, but you know I could have taken her. Easily."

"I didn't want you to 'take her'," Itachi said. "She's a friend of Deidara's."

Kisame continued to stare at him for a moment before he folded his arms. "I think we need to talk," he stated.

"I'm hungry," Itachi replied, knowing it was rude, but wanting a moment to gather his thoughts. Ignoring the taller man's protests, Itachi slipped passed him into the warmer cars where people existed. Normal people. Their innocence and naivety of the dangers around them brought a small sliver of life without paranormal back to him and it helped him think. Deidara's mental ramblings had made it so he had forgotten how to be alone in his own head; how to think without having to block something out. He sat in the dining car and ate among them in silence, chewing his food slowly so as to prolong the time until Kisame's patience ended.

He knew the Shadow Hunter was dangerous; Kali hadn't needed to inform him of that. It was extremely stupid to bring him along, but he knew he needed him to get to Deidara. He didn't know anything about Shadow Hunters and Kisame would be able to see signs the untrained eye would overlook. A shiver of fear ran up his spine; he hoped the Shadow Hunters holding Deidara hadn't poisoned him. Poisoned him to attack Itachi… and he would. Itachi was unaware if Deidara cared for him enough to give him pause as it had Kali. Even if he did, Itachi was Deidara's favorite snack, which he doubted the blond would be able to stop himself from indulging in if he was forced into a Bloodstarved state.

Pushing those disconcerting thoughts away, he leaned back in his chair and resumed his time-consuming search in his mind space. It had taken a lot of practice and discipline to wander his mind while in public, but he was getting better. Recently, it was even more of a necessity because Kisame would regularly shake him every hour or so during the day to make sure he was alright, having never seen someone sit still for so long without sleeping. He wished badly for an organized mind, but Deidara had said it was impossible and it really was. Even if he tried to sort the books in his mind, there would be a new pile to sort through again when he turned his back. Every so often, he would pause and press his cheek against the door and call to Deidara through the cracks. Maybe the vampire couldn't hear him, maybe he was whispering back too quietly for Itachi to hear. He never received an answer and it made him feel lonely and frustrated.

He came back to the outside world and looked around at the people traveling with him. Families and friends. He ached for friendly company. He missed Rose, Sam, and Grey. He missed Tal. He missed Deidara. The blond had promised not to block him out again. Miserable, he returned to his cabin and sat down on the seat the served as a bed as well.

"That man you were with at that restaurant the day I gave you my card," Kisame began the moment he was settled. "Was that the person you were talking about? He was another Human Servant?"

"Yes," Itachi replied after a moment's debate on whether or not to indulge the information.

"That woman was his vampire?"

"Yes."

Kisame drummed his fingers against his thighs in thought. "Why aren't they together?" he asked.

Itachi frowned. That was surely obvious after seeing the state Kali was in. "She closed herself off to him and left him so that she wouldn't hurt him," he told the man.

"Were they like … in love or something?"

"Yes." That seemed obvious to Itachi as well, though perhaps he was more aware because he had spoken to Tal as well.

"Are you in love with your vampire?"

"No," Itachi responded with a frown, wondering what Kisame was trying to understand with his questions.

Kisame rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You could feel when your vampire was attacked and he gave you a warning when we arrived?"

Itachi nodded again.

"And that man could feel the same?" As Itachi nodded again, Kisame ran his hand over his forehead and leaned back in his seat. He heaved a thoughtful sigh, staring out the window at the passing snow. "What exactly are you doing when you're sitting there so quiet?"

"I'm looking for something," Itachi replied. "I'm pretty sure it's here," he tapped his temple to indicate his mind, "I just can't find it."

Kisame looked back at him with the all too familiar expression that meant he was doubting Itachi's sanity. "What is it?"

"A connection."

"To your vampire?"

Itachi shook his head. "No, to someone else. I'm not really sure it's there, or where it could be, but… it has to be there, cause it's him."

"Who?"

"Deidara's Maker," Itachi replied hesitantly.

"I don't know vampire lineage too well," Kisame told him. Itachi relayed to his travel companion of how he had paused to look at Sasori's painting that guarded the secret door to Deidara's room and asked if he knew who he was. "I know _of_ him," was the reply. "He's on a list of 'Kill On Sight' and 'Avoid At All Cost'. He's supposed to be one of the oldest vampires."

Itachi blinked in confusion. "How can he be on both of those lists at once," he asked. "That doesn't seem logical at all."

"He is evil," the man replied in a serious tone. "A total monster. Not like the other vampires… nothing like them. He's seriously evil. We're taught to avoid him because he's so dangerous, but going after him is like the holy grail. Biggest monster, biggest glory. He doesn't follow any of the treaties between vampires and Shadow Hunters, so it's kill, or run on sight."

"Kill him?" Itachi felt his lips turn up a little. The idea seemed hilariously impossible to him.

"No one's been able to do it," Kisame admitted, though unnecessarily so. "Everyone who has tried as disappeared, or have been returned to one of our bases in pieces. He's supposed to be nuts, too, cause he's a kid or something."

"He is a bit strange," Itachi admitted quietly. "I think he was only ten or twelve when he was turned. Looks so at least… not much older than the werewolf pups, but younger than Deidara, who was fifteen."

"Looks so? You've met him?"

"Yes," Itachi said. "Twice."

Kisame raised a surprised eyebrow, then raised and dropped a shoulder. "I was surprised to see his portrait like that… the painting looked old, like something you'd see in a museum. Do vampires, like, revere him or something?"

"No, no," Itachi waved his hand casually. "They're scared of him just as much as you are." He watched Kisame's face react to the notion that he was afraid of something. "He is Deidara's Maker. That's why his portrait was there."

"Oh," Kisame said, looking surprised, but understood why Itachi had brought the subject of the painting up now. "Why do you want to contact him then?"

"Because Sasori- _danna_ ," Itachi said coolly, using Deidara's favorite term, "is very protective of his things." Lying down on the bed, he closed his eyes to signal the end of the conversation. He could feel Kisame's gaze trying to x-ray his mind for more information, but he ignored him and went back to his search. Maybe it was tactless to give Sasori's possible appearance away, but even if Kisame was able to warn someone it wouldn't make a difference. Sasori wasn't invincible, regardless of the impregnable appearance he presented, but he could probably think up several different plans to accomplish this endeavor. He had a feeling the child vampire would not help Deidara unless he felt his Made was in mortal danger. Itachi wondered how many Shadow Hunters would die by Sasori's hand if he chose to retrieve Deidara and whether Sasori would rescue him as well or leave him behind. The train rocked him gently to sleep and he dreamed strangely.

He was curled up on a little wooden boat that rocked gently alone the water's surface. He couldn't tell if it was day or night, for this dream had neither. A nowhere space. He was dimly aware that the rocking boat was the motion of the train, but he was content to dream it as a boat. Sitting up, he looked at the endless expansion around him, but he couldn't see any water. Just a lonely nowhere. Peering over the edge of the boat, he gave a soft, but verbal exhale of longing. Just below the surface was the welcoming space shared between his and Deidara's mind. There was nothing distinguishable about it, but he knew instantly that it was theirs. All he needed to do was plunge into the water and he would be able to relax and reach Deidara again. He wondered if he forced his way into it if it would bring Deidara to him there. He was sure he could get there, but before he could dive into the water, he noticed a face floating by.

Several faces with no heads or bodies, but trailing darkness behind them floated between the shared mind space and the boat. They looked peaceful, but pale and gaunt and dangerous. If he touched the water, it would swallow him and they would feast on him. He wondered if he could swim faster than them to the bottom.

"I doubt it."

Itachi turned and saw Sasori sitting at the other end of the boat. His amber eyes scanned the scene with curiosity then looked at Itachi. The brunette wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was his dream memory, but Sasori looked even younger than usual, and much softer. He didn't look dangerous at all. In fact, he looked pleasantly curious at his new surroundings.

"Hello, Sasori," Itachi greeted after a moment of surprise. "I've been looking for you."

"I know," the redhead told him, stretching his legs out to prop his feed on the edge of the boat. He was wearing gray Converse sneakers with the Batman logo on the sides. The rest of his clothes were summery and casual, making him look smaller and adding to the youthfulness of his appearance. "Where are we?" he asked curiously, staring around at their surroundings again. "What is this place? It's very strange."

"I think I fell asleep," Itachi told him. "So this is my dream."

"A dream?" Sasori turned to look at him again in surprise, his head tilted to the side, then looked around again with an expression Itachi had never seen on him before. He realized that it had been such a long time since Sasori dreamed that the vampire probably didn't remember what it was like.

"Where is Deidara?" he finally asked, his monotonous tone familiar. Pleasant though he looked, he still sounded as if speaking to Itachi was below his exquisite mental capacity. "Did you do something again?"

"No… He blocked me out, too," Itachi told him. "Something has happened to him. I need help."

"I only left you two a few weeks ago. Are you incapable of functioning without me?" he asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm on my way to China. That's where Deidara was going when the Hunters attacked him. He didn't want me to feel his pain, so he blocked me out," he explained. "But he was able to warn me and I got out before the Shadow Hunters could catch me in the castle."

Sasori blinked and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Explain, in detail."

Itachi began from the beginning as he was sure Sasori would want, telling about the request from the Chinese vampires in Beijing, Deidara leaving, about waking up in pain that wasn't his own and receiving Deidara's last two messages of panic, the Hunters' infiltration of the castle, and Itachi's flight. "It was Kit who invited the Shadow Hunters onto the grounds," Itachi concluded. Anger rose in him as he thought of her, but Sasori, who had remained staring at him with narrowed eyes suddenly looked delighted. "Why do you look so happy?"

"She was never my favorite of Deidara's," Sasori explained. "I get to eat her now, don't you think? Deidara can't object and I will enjoy playing with her first. The hag."

Itachi stared over at him with a swallow, but didn't rise to her defense. As much as he didn't like the idea of handling her over to someone like Sasori, he was quite angry at her as well and knew his opinion wouldn't matter to Sasori and Deidara wouldn't object. "Why did she do it?" he asked quietly.

"Because she is a stupid human," the vampire sneered. "And she is old. Old people are useless."

"You're old," Itachi reminded him, unable to help himself smile slightly.

"I am not human," was the haughty reply.

"Tal is old and human."

Sasori sighed in the irritable way he did when he thought Itachi was asking an extremely foolish question. "He is – as you are – a Human Servant," he stated. "Deidara's humans are just that: _humans_. They are not supposed to live so long while still acting as though they are young. Vampire blood keeps them alive and healthy, but their minds easily break with the confusion of an aging mind in a young body. Deidara is sentimental. He treats them like they are friends and not a food source."

"Everyone seemed to be comfortable living together … till I got there," he didn't know why this bit of insecurity spilled out and blamed it on the dream like state. Sitting with him on the boat in this timeless, dayless sea, he felt he could confide anything with the redhead. It wouldn't matter if Sasori thought his thoughts and worries were foolish because Sasori thought everything he said was foolish. Either way he would listen and, though he would mock him, Sasori would speak to him very honestly. The brutal honesty of a child and a personality that entirely did not care of the injuries his words would cause. Sometimes Itachi appreciated that about him.

"Looks can be deceiving, and you are his first non-useless person he has brought into his menagerie," Sasori said after a moment of silence. "I was surprised myself. They were all hopeless castaways – unwanted as he was. You, you were unwanted too, but not hopeless once you got on your feet."

Itachi allowed this to process, looking own into the water at the creatures wafting listlessly though the water surrounding their boat. What were they doing in the peaceful sea that wasn't that held the wonderful tranquil place he shared with Deidara. "Sasori? Why couldn't I find you in my head?" he asked quietly. "I looked for you."

"Because I am connected to Deidara, not to you," Sasori explained, his toes tapping together as he rocked his ankles.

"I expected you to leave … something, even though Deidara told you not to," Itachi commented.

Sasori's feet paused their tapping and he lowered his eyelids.

"I knew it," he commented wryly. "So why couldn't I find a trace of you?"

"It was an experiment," Sasori told him, opening his eyes normally again. "I have never had the opportunity to attempt to extend my hold to something was not directly made by me. I felt something, but I couldn't figure out what it was, and I couldn't find Deidara. Then you said my name and I realized it was you attempting to contact me."

"'Sasori-danna'?" he asked.

The redhead's face contorted oddly and it took Itachi a moment to recognize it as embarrassment. "That is what Deidara calls me and I cannot make him stop," he muttered.

Itachi smiled a little. "What does it feel like when he blocks you out?" he asked, changing the subject as he suspected Sasori would want him to.

"He doesn't quite often," Sasori replied, his face sliding back to its normal expression. "It feels almost as though I've forgotten something. Something on the tip of my tongue, just out of my grasp. It's quite annoying."

"I'm very lonely," he blurted out again.

Sasori gave him a vitriolic expression. "I would have thought you were intelligent enough to be alone in your own head," he sneered. Itachi gave him another smile; mock him as he might, he knew Sasori grew lonely from Deidara's absences as well, though he wouldn't admit it. Deidara's memories that filled his dreams told him that. Sasori would always come on the pretense of being bored, even though it was sometimes many years apart in his visits. His smile seemed to annoyed Sasori, possibly because he guessed what he was thinking. "Why did you want to talk to me about?"

"I need your help…"

"Of course. Do you have a plan?" the vampire asked. His distress seemed to register on his face enough to answer his question. "…but you are walking right into them."

Itachi nodded, mutely.

"I am sure they will want to bring you back into their control, which requires severing your bond with Deidara," Sasori informed him. "It is pretty stupid to go there, even if you could find where they're keeping him."

"I have a Shadow Hunter traveling with me."

"Emphatically stupid."

"I didn't know what else to do," Itachi insisted, unable to stop himself from attempting to justify his actions to him. "I didn't have my phone, or my laptop, or … I was alone … I don't … I didn't know what else to do. Who I could trust…"

"Hm…" Sasori returned his feet to the edge of the boat, appearing deep in thought. Finally, he heaved a sigh and ran his hands over his face. "You need to develop better connections. Deidara is such an idiot sometimes. He is terrible at thinking long term, but he's usually much better at planning things than this. Tell me about this Hunter."

And so, ignoring the longing that pulled at him to dive into the water to race to the bottom comfort, he began explaining everything he could about Kisame Hoshigaki. He included how he had been the reason for Deidara and his trip to Rome, as well as the apparent history between the two that he didn't remember, he told him about how he had found the man outside of the pup's rooms, how he had stopped them from hurting the pups and had been following him like an extra shadow ever since. Sasori listened to him in silence, his childish face watching him intently, eyes only blinking out of habit and not necessity. It struck Itachi again how different he looked here than in person, much softer, and less psychotic.

"This Hunter is traveling with you to make sure you walk to the Hunter's grasp unharmed. He will not willingly help you free Deidara," Sasori told him, though Itachi already knew that much.

"Will you come?" Itachi asked, trying to keep the hope from his voice.

"Walk into a highly trained and magic-armed group of Hunters? Do I look like an idiot?" Sasori inquired, still watching Itachi gazing down at the water.

"Deidara gets stronger when I'm closer, doesn't he?" Itachi murmured.

"Yes."

"Will he be able to break free when I'm there?"

"I doubt it. He's strong, but not that strong."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Sasori considered this, staring down at his feet. "No," he finally replied. "They won't be able to move Deidara for a few weeks. I think you should walk into their camp. It _will_ make him stronger and transfer points are always precarious."

"Will you intercept us?" He couldn't keep the hope out of his voice this time.

"It may be better for you if I didn't."

"Why?"

"You'll learn something."

Itachi stared at him for a long moment before speaking, a little bitterly, "you want us separated," he accused.

The vampires head slowly swiveled to look at him. And look. And look. Itachi was beginning to think he would just keep looking at him without answering until they both shriveled into dust and bones. Finally, the child vampire gave a slow, deliberate blink. "I did," he admitted, "but I don't care anymore."

Unable to meet his gaze, Itachi cast his eyes down to look at Sasori's chest instead. His eyes were too intense for him to meet. A thousand years of weight in those eyes, regardless of the gentle softness that surrounded this dream Sasori. It was far easier to look at his Reptar t-shirt instead. Whatever that was. Once again, he found himself spilling his secret fears. "What if I get there and they've poisoned him like Kali to be Bloodstarved?" he whispered.

The calm water below surged like a great boiling pot. Sasori was standing, though he didn't see him rise, the boat rocking dangerously from the sudden imbalance of the water. "I would skin them alive and slow! Let them scream until their throats were ribbons of torn meat! Then I would heal them and begin again until they begged for death as a mercy and I would deny it to them! No one shall harm my things!"

Itachi clutched the side of the boat desperately as Sasori's anger threatened to cast them both into the churning see. He didn't answer his question, but knew that no amount of Shadow Hunters would stop the redhead's wrath if Deidara's wellbeing was distorted so severely. This dream was beginning to feel like a nightmare, so he blurted something out to catch Sasori's attention. "Kisame—Kisame knows about you."

Almost instantly the scene returned serene and Sasori was no longer standing, but sitting comfortably with his fingers laced around his knees as if nothing had happened. "Oh?" he asked, his head tilting curiously to one side.

"He says you're on the 'Kill On Sight' and 'Avoid At All Cost' lists. The holy grail of hunts for them."

Sasori looked positively delighted.


	23. Beijing

It didn't take Itachi more than a few moments to become entirely overwhelmed. Everything was so big, so busy, so loud after being in such a relatively peaceful city for so long. Beijing felt like Shibuya or Shinjuku station, and he avoided those stations because of the amount of people going through them. If necessary though, it was easy to block out the familiar noises. This city, he was not used to it and not used to the language and after getting to the city center, he had to take a few moments standing in the alley of a building, taking deep breaths. He stared out at the people walking by with Kisame, looking patient but bored, before he could gather is bearings enough to begin walking again. He did not like loud crowds. It might, he thought, be a nice place to visit on vacation, to sight see and walk around, but not when in a state of panic.

Finding Deidara could take days – weeks possibly. If they ever found him, would it be too late?

He had been walking in silence, hugging the edge of the sidewalk to avoid the majority of the crowds. When that thought hung over him like an angry cloud, he stopped again, staring into the shop window that sold clothes, the mannequins dressed in thick coats and scarves. He didn't see them though. He was staring at nothing, wondering what to do. Of course, he knew that the Hunters wouldn't be lurking right at the train station waiting for him to arrive. Nor would they be in a building that advertised their presence. He had hoped that something of Deidara's memory would come to him. Give him a clue as to where to go, but there was absolutely nothing. Taking a moment, he pounded his fist against the locked doors of his mind.

"You promised," he whispered aloud, not realizing it.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing," he said, turning away from the window and Kisame's reflection.

"How about we find a hotel or something to stay in before we do anything?" the man suggested, hands in his jacket pockets. "And food. I'm pretty hungry, aren't you? And it'd be nice to sleep in a real bed."

"No," Itachi replied, scowling unhappily at the street.

He wondered if he had been around vampires enough to find vampires in this city. Perhaps they could point him in that direction – though he didn't have many good experiences with vampires. Perhaps they couldn't be trusted to help. He was about to start walking for something to do when someone sitting in a café window across the street caught his eye. It was a man pretending to read a novel, but his eyes were on the two of them. For a moment, as the sun briefly changed as a cloud moved, Itachi could see passed the glamour that helped the man pretend to be a man and blend into this city. He wasn't sure what he was, but knew he was not human. He weighed his options for a moment, then took a deep breath and crossed the street, making sure the man could see that he was unarmed. He ignored Kisame's questions of what he was doing. He wasn't a Shadow Hunter, but he knew that he smelled like one who could shift through the vampire smell that lingered on him as well. Or maybe he felt like one. However paranormal creatures could tell the difference between Shadow Hunters and normal humans. He was not a Shadow Hunter.

He entered the shop, but closed it in Kisame's face, shaking his head at him and walked between the crowded tables to the man whose book had disappeared and held his hands under the table. "I'm sorry," he said politely in English, inclining his head. "Do you speak Japanese, or German, or English?"

"English," the man grunted, face full of suspicion.

Nodding, Itachi straightened up a bit. He didn't want to sit down without being invited but felt awkward standing over the other. "I know what I smell like, and I know what he is," he began, indicating with a small gesture towards Kisame who was standing outside with his arms crossed, looking put out at being shut out, "but I'm not a Shadow Hunter. I am a vampire's Human Servant from Germany."

The man stared at him, then returned to his coffee. "I have no interest in the happenings of vampires in Germany," he informed him as a conversation closer.

"I don't care," Itachi told him, not backing down. "I just want to know if… if you've heard anything. Here."

"Like I said, I have no interest in the happening of vampires," the man repeated.

"And Shadow Hunters? I'm sure you've been paying attention to them," Itachi insisted, clenching his fists. "There is a group of them here holding my vampire, just tell me where they are keeping him. Please."

The man glanced at him over the rim of his mug as he took a sip. "I would not help you, Hunter, why should I?"

"I am not a Shadow Hunter," Itachi said forcefully. "I am a Human Servant to my vampire. Please, tell me where they are."

There was another agonizing pause. "In return for what?"

"I'll – We always repay our debts," Itachi replied, catching himself before he promised something dangerous that he couldn't give. He hadn't had much experience with creatures that weren't vampires or werewolves, but it seemed the safest thing to do.

"Do you," the man questioned, turning his dark eyes to look at Kisame out the window.

"I am not with him," Itachi said, then, decided that was too close to a lie, amended, "he is following me."

"Do you know what I am?" the man questioned, his eyes returning to Itachi. It wasn't malicious, but both annoyed and deceptive.

Itachi shook his head. "I'm sorry, no," he admitted. "I don't know much about non-humans in China."

"Hm," the man seemed to huff out the sound, still peering at him intently, but he put his cup down. "I am Huli jing and you would be wise not to make deals with us."

Itachi didn't know the word, realizing quickly that he was not telling him his name, but what sort of creature he was, but he smiled politely anyway and made a mental note to look it up when he was able. "I'm not making a deal with you," he reminded him, inclining his head. "I am requesting directions as a stranger in Beijing with the promise to repay the debt."

He was stared at long and hard for several long minutes in silence, then the coffee was finished, and a coat gathered and put on. Itachi hurriedly stepped out of his way as the man moved towards the door, tailing behind him. "There has been a gathering of power that is not common here," the Huli jing murmured, more to the floor than to Itachi. "It is in an old building that has been deserted for a long time, but many have suspected it as a Shadow Hunter's check point with deceptive outer appearances. People have been seen going in and out of it."

They stepped outside, Itachi a step behind him as the man gave Kisame a spiteful glance as he paused to light a cigarette. They walked a little ways further before the man took out a slip of napkin and a pen from his pocket and began to write on it. Itachi waited patiently while Kisame craned his neck to see what it was without trying to make look very obvious.

"I will await your repayment," the Huli jing said with a devious grin as he handed the napkin to Itachi. He took a long swig from his cigarette than crossed the street while Kisame turned to Itachi, looking worried.

"What did you promise him?" he demanded. "You should never promise anything to fae! Or thank them."

"A fae?" Itachi questioned, tilting his head to the side. "He said he was a Huli jing. And I didn't promise anything than more than to repay the debt of his help." Itachi turned over the napkin, his heart sinking a little as he saw that, whatever it was, was written in Chinese. "I didn't say anything specific."

"Are you sure you didn't?" Kisame asked, peering after the man.

"Yes," Itachi said impatiently. He wasn't stupid. "Can you read Chinese?" He held out the napkin to Kisame, but the man shook his head. "It looks like an address… I wonder if we can find someone who can translate it or give us directions…"

"How about we look for a hotel first and get some sleep," Kisame suggested, watching him look around. "I know you're in a hurry to find that vampire, but we've been on that train for ages. Let's sleep in a real bed, eat a decent meal and start fresh. You look really drained."

"I'd rather find where this place is first," Itachi said stubbornly, looking down at the characters.

With a sudden movement, Kisame snatched it out of his hand, making Itachi start and try to grab it back, but the Hunter was considerably taller than him and held it out of his reach with ease. "You look exhausted. Whatever you were doing on that train wasn't exactly restful," he stated, frowning down at him. "Really. You need to rest up and take care of yourself. If you're going to do anything, it's better to do it at your best."

"Give that back," Itachi demanded, glaring darkly at him.

"Not till you've eaten something and slept," Kisame stated, turning on his heel and walking away.

Panicking, Itachi ran after him, trying to block his way, but blocking someone well over six feet when you are only average height is quite difficult and Kisame easily side stepped him and kept walking, looking thoroughly amused with himself. "Kisame," Itachi snapped, grabbing at his arm. "You don't understand, and I know you don't care, but I need to find him. Give that back to me."

"Hey, I'm not saying this to keep you from getting to him," Kisame said, easily keeping his hands out of Itachi's reach. Itachi attempted to use his own weight to bring his hand down, but it didn't budge. The Shadow Hunters muscles were apparently not only for show. "You look like a cute kid doing that," Kisame commented, looking down at him with his grin widening.

Face reddening, Itachi released his arm, fists clenched at his side. "I don't want to sleep, I am rested enough," he insisted.

"I doubt that," Kisame said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Look, it's almost dark," he added. "I'm hungry, you must be hungry. I'm tired, you look like you're running on smoke."

Itachi stood on the side walk, slightly jostled by people walking by. He _was_ tired, his legs shaking, he was also hungry, stomach growling, but all he could feel was the pain that had woken him up what felt like such a long ago. The loneliness that was left behind in Deidara's absence. Frustration built up in him, but a little voice in the back of his mind agreed with Kisame, telling him he was only reacting like this because he was tired and hungry and had grown use to not being either. Slowly, he forced his fingers to unclench and his shoulders began to relax. Kisame saw him and gave him a light clap on the shoulders with a triumphant smile. With the brunette following close behind, Kisame began trudging down the streets looking for what Itachi assumed was a place to stay. By leaving someone else in charge, he did begin to realize the benefit of finding a place to spend the night. He had been wearing the same clothes for the last week and a half and hadn't had a decent shower since the night before the attack. Closing his eyes as the stopped for a traffic light, he rubbed his temples lightly. But Deidara was still prisoner somewhere. Deidara was alone. Knowing what he knew about his vampire, Deidara probably wasn't scared, but he was probably worried about Itachi. He had no idea if Itachi had gotten away. He wondered if Deidara could feel him pushing with all his might against the barriers trying to get through to him, giving himself migraines from effort.

Kisame gave him a prod in the side to bring his attention back to reality as the light turned and they crossed the street. "You gotta get out of your head more," Kisame commented. He didn't seem irritated, in fact, when Itachi didn't reply, Kisame just grinned.

A quick stop in a convenience store allowed Kisame to grab what appeared to Itachi a very poor assortment of snacks and drinks and also to speak to the man behind the counter – using many hand gestures and English words – about a hotel they could walk to. It made him appreciate the exposure to languages he had since meeting Deidara. He and Kisame had been speaking Japanese to each other, but not considering learning English or any other language while he was in grade school seemed now like a very large oversight and was happy he could speak so many. When they were outside, Kisame handed him a hot can of coffee and a bag of fried chicken and mimicked the directional hand gestures the man had given them, even though Itachi had been standing right next to him when Kisame had received them.

The hotel they arrived at took them a bit longer than the direction given to them suggested, much to Kisame's verbal annoyance. It was small, much like a hostel and the man inside spoke enough English that made buying a two bed hotel room for the night and accepted one of Deidara's credit cards. The room was small, barely big enough to house the two bed that it contained. Kisame's legs humorously stuck out from the end of the bed, but the Shadow Hunter only chuckled and commented that we were getting what they paid for: cheap.

"Go take a shower and soak for a bit in the tub," Kisame gestured to the open door of the bathroom. "I'll go find us some real food."

"You sure you don't want to go first…?" Itachi asked, glancing at the door and back again.

"Not a chance," Kisame said with a wave of his hand. "There was some Chinese money in that wallet of yours, wasn't there? How about you treat me?"

The bathroom was cleaner than the cheap price predicted. Clean and white with small bottles of soap and shampoo with fresh towels available for the room's occupants. Stripping off his clothes, he folded them neatly, placing them by the door and turned the water on. As he waited for the water to heat, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He did look horrible. Pale, thin, and tired. Darkness smudged the skin under his eyes and his hair looked dirty and stringy. Seeing himself like this made him want the bed, the sleep, and the shower despite his desire to find Deidara. One night wouldn't hurt. Warnings echoed into his memories. He and Deidara shared their souls, their health; if Deidara was hurting, he would be hurting. Perhaps that was why he was so tired, because Deidara was tired. He had to take care of himself to help Deidara. Being closer to Deidara made him stronger, being healthy made him stronger. Turning his back on his reflection, he stepped into the blissfully hot shower and heaved a sigh. Dirt, sweat, and worry seemed to slide off him down to the drain at his feet and he stood there much longer than he normally would before he began to scrub his skin and hair. It took longer than usual for him to feel properly clean and human again and when he was finished, he took the time to wipe down and fill the tub up before sliding under the water.

He missed his own bathtub at home.

After a long and proper soak, he sat up suddenly and pushed his bangs out of his eyes in panic. He let Kisame go out on his own. He could be alerting the other Shadow Hunters. He could be bringing them here to grab him. How could he have let himself get so tired and exhausted that he just let something like that slip? Sliding under the water completely, he closed his eyes. How could he have been so stupid? This whole trip had been ill planned and there was nothing he could do about it now. Sasori had been right. He needed better connections.

Coming up for breath, he glanced around the bathroom. Deidara's bag lay on the floor by the door where his clothes had been, containing Deidara's helpful things but no answers. He would have to figure this out on his ow—'had been'? He looked back at the bag, then around the room. Where were his clothes? Scrambling out of the water, he grabbed his towel and wrapped it around himself. Throwing the door open, he stared at the empty space, mind reeling but blank. Where were his clothes?! The sun had set, the lights of the room casting a warm, orange-yellow glow against the walls. He had been in the bath for a long time, but… his clothes!

The hotel door clicked as the lock turned and the door opened. Kisame walked in, juggling a few bags in one arm. "Where are my clothes?" Itachi demanded before he had taken more than a step into the room.

"Whoa, chill, chill," Kisame said, with a startled laugh. "I paid the hotel staff to wash them for me while I was getting food. I grabbed them while you were in the shower." He tossed him a bag of his clothes and snickered as Itachi stomped back into the bathroom. "Damn did you just get out?" he called through the door. "You were in there for over two hours, you know!"

"I was dirty," Itachi muttered as he came out of the bathroom, shouldering Deidara's bag with him. "Why did you take my clothes?"

"You're welcome," Kisame smirked at him again, sitting down on the bed closest to the door. "Kept you from running off if you finished before me." He set the other bag down on the floor and pulled out several sandwiches from a fast food place. "And I brought food because I am awesome… though I guess it was your vampire's money, so a thanks to him." He began piling the items neatly on the nightstand and gestured for Itachi to help himself while he went into the bathroom himself with a sandwich in hand. "Don't try stealing my clothes while I'm in here though," he added, laughing at the expression on Itachi's face.

Itachi definitely wouldn't be stealing Kisame's clothes. In fact, who steals someone's clothes while they were showering? No one sane. "You could have asked me," he said to the door. "Please don't take my clothes again."

He sat on the bed furthest from the door and picked up one of the sandwiches. A simple burger, but Kisame had gotten quite a lot so the brunette supposed it would be enough for the two of them. It was nice to get his clothes washed, but what if he'd gotten out of the shower before he came back? Why hadn't he asked him?

With a sigh, he unwrapped the food and began eating. Once he started, he realized how hungry he was and went through three before Kisame came out, dressed and towel-drying his hair. "Hey, you think you'll be able to sleep this time? Instead of whatever you were doing on that train?" Kisame asked as he picked up another burger for himself.

"Maybe," Itachi said, crumbling the wrapper so he could throw it away.

"Did you ever find what you were looking for?" Kisame's expression was curious, though a little ridiculous because he had a mouth full of meat and bun.

To counter that, Itachi opened another burger and chewed his bite carefully before swallowing and replying, "maybe."

The Shadow Hunter gave him an expression of displeasure or annoyance, Itachi couldn't tell, but it wasn't an angry expression. In fact, he looked as though he was wondering if Itachi was making a joke. "Alright, whatever," he finally said with a shrug. "Well, look, when you're finished, sleep and we'll start early tomorrow."

"Don't lose that napkin," Itachi said, watching him closely.

"I promise I will not lose the napkin," Kisame assured him. "And I will not steal your clothes while you're sleeping either."

Itachi glared at him, finishing the sandwich and picked up Deidara's bag to rifle through the contents again, even though he had them memorized after repeating the action many times. Just feeling them, knowing Deidara had gone through them before made him feel slightly better. Not much, but a little. He opened the passports, smiling a little at the picture of Deidara in the picture. He was making an expression as though he was trying to look serious, but also that he had just swallowed something spicy and sour. Another had a photograph that made Deidara look rather like a serial killer. His smile widened a little.

"You really like this guy, don't you?" Kisame asked, who had been watching him closely.

Itachi looked up at him, then reached for another burger even though he wasn't hungry anymore. It was mostly to fill time. "Yes, I suppose," he said finally. "He is a little strange and crazy, but he is… important to me. He saved my life."

"Hm. And you're his… Human Servant?" Kisame asked, propping a chewing chin on his hand. "What exactly is a Human Servant?"

"We share things," Itachi said, unsure of himself. "Like… I can feel things he is feeling. I'm told I can borrow some of Deidara's power, but I don't know how. And…we can talk psychically."

"Interesting… So why can't you just ask him where he is?"

"He blocked me out," Itachi replied softly, setting the passports back into the bag. "He's hurt, very badly. He didn't want me to feel it, too." Kisame didn't reply, just kept eating the rest of the burgers. Itachi rubbed his face and laid down on the bed, which was thankfully comfortable, arms wrapped around the bag.

He thought it was going to take him a while to fall asleep. He had been having difficulty sleeping for the past several days, even when he wasn't digging through his mind for Sasori. Tonight, lying in a real bed, he fell asleep quickly and slept deeply. If he dreamed anything, it was forgotten when he woke up the next day. The sun shone through the window and looking at it, he wished it was warm enough to leave it open, but at the same time he knew it would make him sad if he couldn't smell the wood smoke and hear the birds that lived on the castle grounds. It was too cold anyway. He stretched his back so it popped a few times and sighed, feeling rested. Sitting up, he looked over at the other bed and found Kisame sitting at the edge of his bed polishing the barrel of a small handgun.

"Mornin'," Kisame said, looking back at Itachi.

"Good morning," he replied, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He watched Kisame put the gun in a holster. It gave him an odd feeling. He wondered if it was the same gun that had been fired at him and Deidara many months ago. "May I have the napkin now?"

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Kisame pulled out the small slip of soft paper and handed it over. "I was going to ask around to see if I could get directions, but I figured you wouldn't want me doing all the detective work for you," he told them with a grin, going back to strapping his weapons to his body. "I figured we'll find a touristy place and find someone who speaks one of the languages we understand so we can get directions."

Itachi pulled his shoes on and smoothed the paper down on his lap to look down at again. "Will you be able to see where they are?" he asked, looking up at Kisame again.

"Well," the Shadow Hunter breathed, finishing the strap at his ankle. "It depends on the kind of defenses they've put up. I should be able to. I'll know if we're in the right place and will probably be able to get us through the door."

Itachi looked down at the address and thought hard as he stared at the Chinese characters, wishing his had his phone to look them up. He knew some of the letters, but they may mean something completely different here. His previous doubts began to surface again. This had seemed so simple when he had made his decision in Germany, but it clearly wasn't. Beijing was much bigger than he expected. Out of habit, he felt for Deidara, but there was nothing there. This lack of something was becoming extremely frustrating. Did Deidara believe he was unable to handle whatever he was feeling? He was tougher than that, he could handle something. He could handle some of it at least, he countered himself, thinking of the pain that morning. Could he take some of it to make Deidara feel better?

He needed to be better informed about his role as a Human Servant.

"Okay," he breathed, folding the napkin carefully so he could slide it into one of the pockets of the messenger bag. He tied his shoes and pulled on his jacket as well. It was very cold outside; he wished he had brought more clothes. "Alright, let's go."

"We're getting breakfast first, right?" Kisame said casually as he pulled his own overcoat on.

Itachi turned to face him, his temper rising again. "We already took this detour," he reminded him. "I want to find Deidara now."

"On an empty stomach?" Kisame asked dramatically.

"But—"

"We could get some when we get directions. Simple," Kisame grinned at him. "Compromise."

Itachi's glare deepened. "Fine," he muttered, buttoning his jacket up and stalked out of the room.

"They have to hold him there, remember?" Kisame said, rising to follow him. "He's not going anywhere any time soon. He's fine. Probably."

"'Probably'," Itachi repeated, quite certain of the doubtfulness the word 'probably' had. "Fine, fine, but let's be very quick, please."

He tried to make sure it was quick, but it ended up taking a few hours before they were able to find a place Kisame was satisfied with to eat and also to find someone who could both read the writing on the napkin and direct them to the address which was now a considerable distance away, though still in the city. Kisame frustrated him more by sitting in a restaurant to eat breakfast and then stopping in a convenience store to get more food, and then suggesting that they go sightseeing. When Kisame sat down in a park and ate his sandwiches, Itachi had to hold himself back from throwing a tantrum worthy of Deidara. Still, he ate, frustrated and angry, but he ate, finding himself starving again even though they had eaten. He reminded himself of the growing importance of keeping his health up for both himself and Deidara. Temper high, he ate his sandwich like a duty.

Not wanting to walk any more than necessary because walking had wasted so much time already, Itachi chose to brave the train station that would take them to the address – as instructed by the English-speaking woman who had given them their sandwiches at the convenience store. The train was full of people standing together, eyes on their phones or nose in some form of literature. Kisame was several heads taller than most of them and seemed oblivious to their stares. He seemed to enjoy watching Itachi, found amusement in his frustration and confusion about this new place, which only annoyed Itachi more. He couldn't figure it out, but Deidara did the same thing, so he had gotten relatively good at ignoring it. What he wasn't sure about was whether or not it was malicious, it was impossible to tell.

"Excuse me," Itachi said to a man waiting to cross the street before Kisame could suggest yet another detour. He used English to speak to the man because that had been the most common second language they'd come across. "Do you know where this place is?" he asked, holding out the napkin.

The man looked confusedly at him, clearly not understanding what he had said, but looked at the napkin and did a slight double take. Itachi waited as the man looked around for a moment then pointed at a large brick building that was slightly visible around the corner of the block. The man said something to him, but Itachi could only nod in false understanding.

"Thank you," he replied to the man, staring at the building. So close…

He forced himself to walk and not run as they approached the building. Kisame made a noise that made Itachi pause and look at him as he began squinting at the building, tilting his head to the side to get a different angle. "Yeah, this is definitely the place," he stated confidently, pointing at various points on the wall. "There are spells and wards all over the outside to make it look like this."

"I can't see anything," Itachi commented, though he looked where his companion had pointed.

Kisame gave an unconcerned shrug. "Well, you're not trained to look for them and you might not be able to cause of your connection to your vampire," he reasoned.

"Oh."

"So," Kisame began, clapping his hands together once. "Do you have a plan or do you want to just walk right in?"

"Can we walk right in?" Itachi questioned, recalling Sasori's vague and unhelpful advice.

Another shrug. Kisame was full of shrugs. "We're both Shadow Hunters, I don't see why not," he said, walking up to the door of the building pretending to be desolated before Itachi could protest that he wasn't a Shadow Hunter and didn't want to be.

The outside of the building made it seem as though it had been a warehouse or factory, forgotten many years ago. The brick was faded and falling apart in some places, the windows were broken in places and one of the two doors was hanging off its hinges, held on by the chair supposedly baring entry. Itachi had never had a problem seeing through glamour before, but he couldn't see passed the cloak of magic over the building until they were very close to it. Parts of the decay was real, but the rest was fake and magicked to appear forgotten. Kisame pushed open the door that was not hanging from its hinges at all and they stepped inside. The feeling of ice water passed over Itachi through nothing had touched them. He gave a shudder and looked back, but saw nothing, so he examined the innards of the building that told an entirely different story.

It was not a factory or warehouse and was much cleaner than the outside suggested. Walls lit with warm glowing bulbs from old-fashioned Chinese lanterns showed a hallway leading deeper into the hallway. The hallway they walked was uncomfortable. It was too straight and too deep for the actual buildings. The walls were large grey stone laced with exposed wooden beams that supported it all. There was no one in the hallway and they walked in silence for an unnerving amount of time before they finally came to a fork in the hallway. Itachi followed a step behind Kisame, confused, but following him. Kisame had stopped and looked left, examining the corridor, then right at the identical corridor. He seemed to consider them a moment, then clicked his tongue in understanding, reaching back to grip Itachi's shoulder and walked right into the wall in front of them. Only it wasn't a wall and they slid through the illusion as though it was a curtain and were back in the hallway with the door behind them, but instead of the long hallway again, they stood in what appeared to be a lobby. Its ceilings were high and had ancient and modern details laced in the design. Before them, standing in the middle of the room where a reception desk may have once stood, was a man and a woman, dressed in clothing similar to the clothes Kisame wore and by the dense bulges in various places suggested protection. They looked almost like military figures with their defensive and weapon laced clothes. The woman was tall with deep lidded eyes and curly red hair pulled tightly off her face; the man was shorter, his hair closely cropped to his scalp, his clothes were a shade of red where the woman's was the same color as Kisame's. They looked at Itachi suspiciously, then at Kisame and found a kindred spirit.

"Welcome," the man said to them. "There is always sanctuary for traveling Shadow Hunters here, but this is a dangerous time and we recommend continuing on your way."

"We kno—"

"I'm here for Deidara," Itachi interrupted Kisame, stepping forward as calmly as he could. Now that they were inside the building, he could feel Deidara in here. He was somewhere close, but it still seemed very far. He wondered if Deidara could feel the same, or if he was too hindered by the sun shining outside.

The two Shadow Hunters stared at him then exchanged a confused glance. "The vampire?" the man asked for clarification.

"Yes," Itachi replied. "He is my vampire and I want him back. He hasn't done anything to sanction this."

They continued to stare at him, unsure of what to make of him. He didn't look away or back down from their staring, but kept eye contact as the dominant wolves did when one of the lower ranking pack was acting up. The Shadow Hunter couldn't keep his gaze – he more dominant then they the wolves would say – and broke it first to look at Kisame instead. He, it seemed to them, was something more familiar though Itachi wasn't sure they recognized him or simply knew he was one of them. Kisame, however, had assumed the role of a follower instead of an equal and remained silent behind him. Without him to buffer the interaction, the two had to acknowledge Itachi again.

"Your vampire," the man repeated for more clarification.

"Yes."

"Aren't you a Shadow Hunter?" he questioned, a slight sneer creeping on his face. "Are you hoping to claim him as a prize?"

"No," Itachi replied, not liking the way they spoke of Deidara as a trophy to be hunted. "He is my vampire. I am his Human Servant, Itachi Uchiha." He watched their grins drop from their faces instantly when he told them his name, staring at him with entirely new expressions. "Please take me to him so that we can return home together."

"Take you to him?" the woman repeated, chortling quietly. The two shared another look and their smiles became nasty, making Itachi's chest clench nervously. "Sure. We'll take you to him. Follow us."

At her gesture, Itachi took a step to follow her, but Kisame stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. His expression was tense and he looked as though he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to use and let go. Eyeing him curiously, Itachi continued to walk, feeling him moving behind him as they followed the pair up a set of steps and onto a floor that had a similar design to the foyer. They turned down another hallway and stopped in front of a thick wooden door with silver markings engraved into the wood, this time Itachi could see the magic on the door, keeping whatever was inside trapped. The man turned to Itachi and pushed the door open with a broad gesture.

"There is your vampire, blood traitor," he said as the woman snickered behind him. "Come and see him."

A feeling of dread bubbling in the pit of his stomach, Itachi took a step through the door and looked.


	24. The Shadow Hunters

The room before him was much more similar to the outside of the building than the rest of it he had seen so far. It was dark and cold. Windows were broken, bringing icy winter wind and patches of sunlight that illuminated the desolate room before him. At the far side of the room, kneeling on a slightly raised platform of stone with his head down was Deidara.

Itachi nearly threw up the sandwiches he had eaten with Kisame.

Very little could hold a vampire without killing them. He had known this. The Shadow Hunters had apparently found ways around their strength and self-healing abilities. Itachi could see where the pain that had woken him had come from now. The long blades he had seen the Shadow Hunters invading his home use were sunk deep into the blond's body, through the bones in his legs, his arms, his torso. Nine of them in total. They were embedded into the ground in different angles to hold the vampire in the position he was in, unable to move. The blades were laced with the same magic silver on the door, not allowing the wounds they made to heal properly, so blood oozed slowly down them, drying as it slid down the blades onto the floor. He was in his Suntime death, not moving, not breathing, his skin was paler and shallower than usual. His hair was matted with blood and clung to his body and draped over the blades. He was starving – Itachi could see it even from across the room. Starving and in pain.

The face of calm he had carefully put on when he walked into the building dropped like a brick when he saw the vampire. His hands shook and felt clammy as they clenched tightly at his sides. A cry of distress threatened to rise up from his stomach, but he fought to keep it down.

Their entrance didn't go unnoticed. As the door shut again, closing off some of the artificial light in the hallway, Deidara's head shifted just slightly. His eyes opened a sliver to see who had come to visit him, widening as he saw Itachi and in his surprise, moved slightly, the blades cutting into him and fresh streams of blood trickled down onto the floor. The blond's careful blockages between them slipped slightly. For one brief moment, Itachi felt him in his head. He felt his relief at seeing him alive, felt his concern for why he was there, and felt his anger towards the Shadow Hunters who had brought him here to mock Itachi and he felt his pain. So much pain, so much hunger. He was resisting the urge to breath in, knowing he could hurt Itachi if he had that irresistible smell so close to him in this state. Just for a moment. Then the barriers went back up and Itachi was alone again.

"Here is your vampire," the female Shadow Hunter stated, pointing with the silver blade she had unsheathed from her back. "I don't think we will be returning him to you though."

"Deida—" The Shadow Hunters laughter cut him off, and Itachi grew more distressed. Any miniscule plan he had thought up was completely gone. He couldn't look at the guards, couldn't look at Kisame, who stood in silence. Eyes on Deidara and this damaged state, he begged him to let him in, but he wouldn't. Distress mounted to terror, terror to panic. Sasori had said it might be best to turn himself in, but what good would that do? What was their fate? If he didn't do something, they would both be at the Shadow Hunters' mercy. If he did do something, they may see him as a threat. The panic was replaced by resolute logic that there was nothing to be done and he felt himself shutting down against his will. Deidara was the strength, he could do nothing. He should never have come.

"Itachi."

A small surge of relief washed over him, and he looked back up at Deidara who was still watching him closely. He could probably smell his distress, even though he had blocked out his thoughts. He had gone so long without hearing his voice it shook him to his senses.

He took a step closer to the blond, but his way was barred by the male Shadow Hunter with his own long, silvery blade. Across the room, Deidara growled beastly at him for threatening Itachi. "Let him go," Itachi demanded, attempting to sound brave, but it still felt rather weak.

"No," the man stated. "He's caused enough damage to the world. We'll kill him, blood traitor. Now that we have you, we don't need him."

Itachi turned to glare at him, his distress replaced by anger. "You will regret it if you try," he threatened. The man moved forward in response to the threat and Kisame stuck out his hand across Itachi's chest to push him back to safety. Deidara moved again angrily and Itachi hurriedly gesture to him that he was alright and not to hurt himself more. The scene would have escalated, but a new voice sounded from the opposite side of the room they had entered.

A man stepped through a door Itachi hadn't noticed, taking in the room before him with a calculated frown. He was tall and dressed in a similar combat uniform as the others, though it was dark blue instead of black or red. He didn't appear elderly, but aged as if his life had etched into his skin the tale of his experiences. His skin was a warm honey color and his hair was dark and long, but in a forgotten manner. He had an impressive air, but more curious than harsh. The two guards stopped what they were doing when he entered, but the man's curious eyes had stopped on Itachi – a stranger in normal clothes. The male Shadow Hunter began to explain how Itachi had walked in with Kisame, but the brunette couldn't tell if this newcomer was listening or not because he seemed to be trying to place his own face.

"Deidara," Itachi finally said, interrupting the Shadow Hunter and thankful that his voice sounded stronger than he felt, "is my vampire. Please release him so that we can go home. This is unsanctioned; he's done nothing wrong."

Recognition seemed to dawn on this stranger's face as he glanced over at Deidara and back. He scowled at the two guards. "You sadistic fools," he snapped angrily. "Why would you bring him in here? To mock him? Taunt them? It is hard enough to look at without any personal attachment. Return to your posts, now." He waited while two Shadow Hunters bristled, but backed out of the room again, closing the door behind them obediently. "Itachi Uchiha," he said, his face and voice much softer, his English spoken in an accent he didn't know. "I apologize for their actions. Please, come with me."

"No," Itachi replied firmly. "I am not leaving him."

"You must," the man said, almost apologetically. Behind him, Deidara moved again, irritably. "For our safety and your own."

Itachi stood rooted to the spot, knowing he was right, but he didn't want to leave the blond like this. He also knew that the longer he was here, the harder it would be for Deidara to resist fighting against his shackles to get at his blood. Stuck in uncertainty, he didn't move until a large hand appeared on his shoulder – Deidara growled softly again – to gently steer him forward. It was Kisame who had a thoughtful expression on his face as if he had seen something he didn't expect and was assessing it. Before he could be led out of the room, Itachi dug his heels into the floor and turned to face Deidara again.

"You promised," he said earnestly. "Stop it. You promised."

Deidara didn't answer him, but his growling quieted and his eyes never left Itachi, full of concern and hunger. Kisame gave him a firm, but gently push out the room. Still he was alone in his head.

With Kisame herding him from behind, they followed the man into a new hallway, up a stair case, passed through a room and another hallway. Itachi tried to remember all the directions, repeating them backwards in his mind so that he could get back to Deidara if he had the chance. He would not be lost in this place of enemies. Some of the rooms they passed were dark, others brightly lit, and he caught glimpses of other Shadow Hunters sitting, talking, laughing, or eating together inside. The man he was trailing brought him to a room that had been transformed into a sleeping area as well as a makeshift study. Books were neatly placed on shelves and stacked on the desk. There was a small bed in the corner that was arranged to now be a sitting area. He thought at first that the room was light by lanterns with fire instead of electricity, but when he looked closer, he saw the little globes were neither fire nor electricity. He stared at one of a moment as the man stepped behind his desk and realized the little globes were filled with some magic.

"Please sit down," the Shadow Hunter gestured to a cushion chair facing the desk while he remained standing. "My name is Vivitsu. Allow me to make you a drink. There is a lot I'd like to speak to you about and I'm sure the scene downstairs has left you a little shaken."

Itachi remained standing, suddenly suspicious of his politeness. What would they do to him? To Deidara? Was this a trap to get him to lower his guard? Whatever it was, he wished to get it over with as soon as possible. This truly was the stupidest thing he had ever done. Reckless. He was not a reckless person. He was someone who planned things out before acting. Thing he should have done ran through his mind. Joined the wolves with Rose, spoken to the witches, looked for Belle, ran to Rome, something. At the time, none of these seemed more helpful than coming for Deidara himself. But he was no fighter, there was no way he could make it out of here. He wondered if Sasori's idea of surrendering had implications he had failed to explain.

Kisame broke his thoughts again by nudging the back of his leg to make him lose his balance and fall into the chair. He grinned good naturedly at Itachi's irritated look and walked around him to sit on the bed that was now a couch.

"I am not trying to trick you," the Shadow Hunter, Vivitsu, said, placing a mug of water and lose tea in front of him, the smell of herbs wafting up to him. "Just being polite."

"I can take a sip first if you want to check if it's poisoned," Kisame told him, still grinning, almost playfully, at him.

Itachi ignored him. "What do you want with us?" he asked.

"'Us'?" Vivitsu asked, then answered his own question. "Ah, you and your vampire. Do you consider yourself the same?"

It was an odd question and Itachi was irritated at not receiving a straight answer. "What do you want with us?" he repeated.

The man looked unfazed and continued to watch him with a gentle expression. "What did you mean earlier? What did he promise you?"

"Personal," Itachi replied aggressively. "What is it you want from us?"

Vivitsu gave a slight nod and took a breath. "It isn't him we are interested in, but you. You are one of our own and you've been lost to us for a very long time," he told him.

"I am not a Shadow Hunter," Itachi said firmly.

Vivitsu's smile was kind and patient, reminding him of Tal. "Being a Shadow Hunter is not a choice," he said gently. "It isn't an occupation, but an aspect of being. We are not human, fae, shifter, or vampire. We are our own species called Shadow Hunters. We have other names if you would prefer to use those terms."

"I don't want to be affiliated with you," Itachi responded. "Please allow us to go home."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," was the reply. "I know you've come to live and know the world differently from us. That is respectful, for having only one method of thought stalls progress and learning. I am a Scholar. I would like to learn from you while you are here with us."

"Are you in charge?" Itachi questioned, suddenly confused.

"Of this fellowship, yes," Vivitsu looked at him with his green eyes, assessing him as much as Itachi was doing to him. Itachi's question seemed to confuse him, but once again, he seemed to come to a conclusion on his own. "Ah," he hummed in that realization tone that told him he had answered his own unspoken question again. "All groups of Shadow Hunters are led by a Scholar. Our Warriors and Mages can be just as clever and wise," he smiled at Kisame, who was lounging back in silence, "but at times their decisions are driven by skill and can override their better judgement. It is much safer to have a Scholar in charge. Would you mind telling me, please, how you came into the acquaintance of vampires?"

Itachi looked over at Kisame, who was looking rather bored, but didn't seem to have any interest in leaving. He wondered who Kisame had told about himself, if he had told the other Shadow Hunters anything. He had had opportunities to pass on information about him, hadn't he? Why not if that was so? He looked back at Vivitsu and decided to answer. "Deidara found me earlier this year in Tokyo when I was—" he paused, not sure he wanted to divulge that moment of heartbreak, "out," he finished instead. "I went willingly with him back home. Vampire glamour doesn't work on me, so I know I went willingly."

Vivitsu finally sat down and leaned his elbows on his desk. "But how did you survive? We searched for survivors," the man told him, his prematurely aged face sad and curious. "I was still a young man, training. I was not permitted to go, but I heard my teachers speaking of it. It shook us all, the horror of it… We found the remains of the whole family, but never you or your brother's bodies…"

Itachi blinked and instantly became more focused. The human police had never found his brother's body, but the Shadow Hunters hadn't either? After the event, the police had questioned him over and over, comforted him, dug into his brain, but they said no survivors. The house had been destroyed, the compound razed. It took them a long time to clear the debris. The number of members in the Uchiha family was great and every one of them dead. Itachi had attended the funerals of his parents and brother, his brother's coffin empty. Perhaps it was somewhere among the rubble, torn to pieces they couldn't put back together again. But… if the Shadow Hunters had found nothing as well… A small spark warmed his insides with hope.

He barely heard Kisame filling his silence with an explanation of his mother's spell.

"Strange that Mikoto Uchiha's spell would prevent us from finding you," Vivitsu said quietly to himself, then shook himself out of his thoughts. "So, Itachi… you lived with normal humans all this time, forgetting your heritage and paranormal until the vampire found you and took you to his home in Germany. And you lived with other vampires… and also werewolves. That seems quite a culture shock. What were the werewolves like? To live so close to them seems frightening."

"It wasn't," Itachi said firmly. "I was closer friends with the werewolves than the vampires. They are all very kind."

"There was a little girl," Kisame said suddenly. "She panicked during the infiltration and shifted right in front of us and helped lead us out of the house. Never so much as a growl. Weird, huh?"

"Jasper is a good Alpha," Itachi said defensively. "Werewolves are not mindless animals. The Denmark Alpha is also a good one."

"You've met two packs?" Vivitsu said, leaning his chin on his palm with interest.

"Some of Mikkel's pack is living with us because their children were being hunted for sport," Itachi said coldly. "Halloween was the first time in months that Rose could leave the castle grounds because she is the only surviving child in Jasper's pack. She can't even live with her own parents."

The curious expression faded from Vivitsu's face. "I see," he said quietly. "That is why you don't want to be near us. You've seen our dark side." He brought his tea to his lips and drank slowly. "Please do not judge us based on a few zealots."

Itachi gave him a dark look. "I must," he replied. "Because these 'few zealots' are left unchecked." He pointed back at Kisame, "Kisame shot at Deidara and me without any cause or warning. You're using my vampire as a pin cushion. The Shadow Hunters threatened war if the vampire council didn't turn me over. And men who attacked my home were excited to slaughter a bunch of sleeping children. That isn't a few zealots."

"The threat was because we hadn't known you and your vampire had formed the bond you had," the Shadow Hunter replied. "Keeping one of us as a blood bank is a treaty violation."

"I was never a blood bank," Itachi said, noting that he didn't comment on the other accusations.

"I can see that," Vivitsu mused quietly. "I don't think there has ever been such a union between a Shadow Hunter and a vampire before. None that I have read or heard about, at least. No one is quite sure what to do. Most of the council would like to separate the union you've made and set things right."

"'Set things right'?" Itachi stood up angrily. "What is 'right'? That sounds so prejudice."

Vivitsu set the mug of tea down and laced his fingers. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you. I am simply giving you information," he told him. "I must report to our Elder Council."

"My mother placed a spell on me that kept monsters from finding me. Shadow Hunters included. It kept me safe. Deidara was able to find me, so whatever spell it was didn't think he was a monster. The spell thought he would keep me safe." He paused, thinking about that. He had wanted to die that night and Deidara had found him. He didn't think spells and magic could really think for themselves, but maybe the spell had allowed Deidara to find him as a way of keeping him safe. "I would rather stay with him than begin a new life with Shadow Hunters."

"Please sit down," Vivitsu requested after a moment. "You make a very valid point," he told him as Itachi sank into his seat again. "It is out of my control. I am sorry." He did look uncomfortable, as though he really were regretting the fact that he couldn't do much for him.

Itachi ran his hands over his knees. He was feeling cold now. "Can I go talk to Deidara, please?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow it," Vivitsu told him. "I don't say so out of cruelty, but for your safety and the safety of my people. I am responsible for every man and woman in this fellowship. If you were to release him, all of them would be in danger."

"I could talk to him," Itachi told him, and it didn't feel entirely false. "He wouldn't attack you if I told him not to."

"It is your very angry word, and I cannot accept that either," Vivitsu said, apologetically.

"Can't you take those blades out?" he asked.

"No," was the reply. "He is too strong to keep otherwise. My group hasn't fought a vampire like him before, the blades wouldn't have held him, but he heard about the other group and I believe he was concerned about your safety and now he is too weak to escape." He stared down at his desk, eyes dark. Itachi could tell he didn't like the manner in which they were holding Deidara. Not a cruel man, whatever they had done. "We believe twelve more days will be safest. In twelve days, we will be traveling to a transfer point and taking the vampire with us. You are welcome to join us."

"Are you inviting me to be polite or because I have a choice?"

"I would like you to choose to stay with us," the man said, lifting his eyes up again. They were green, but not as bright as Rose's. They looked earnest as well. Itachi wasn't sure what he thought of the man. "In the meantime, please feel free to stay in this sanctuary." He offered Itachi a smile, then turned to address Kisame, "I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

"Kisame Hoshigaki," the man answered, standing up and offering his hand. "I am a Linkless."

Itachi didn't know what the word meant, but Vivitsu seemed to because he gave a small nod and offered him another smile. "You are also welcome to stay and travel with us. There are plenty of rooms to choose from and food in the kitchens," he told them both, then turned to face Itachi. "I would love to be able to speak with you again if you will allow it. I am most interested to learn from you. Oh, and if someone acts like the two guarding the entrance, please inform me. That type of behavior is unacceptable."

"Okay," Itachi said, standing up.

Kisame walked with him to the door and shut it behind them as they walked in silence. When they turned into an empty hallway, Kisame finally broke it. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Itachi asked, feeling exhausted and downtrodden.

"I didn't know those two would act like that," Kisame explained. "I would have warned you if I knew. You didn't need to see that."

"You'd have keep it from me?" he asked coldly. Kisame didn't answer, but looked uncomfortable, so Itachi didn't press. He looked back at the floor and exhaled slowly, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Will you help me go see him?"

"No," Kisame replied, with a shake of his head. "I won't go against orders like that."

"What are 'Linkless'?"

"It's nothing important," Kisame told him vaguely. "Let's find a place for us to hold up. Hope you realize you aren't getting rid of me yet."

"I assumed so," Itachi replied wearily. He followed Kisame as he looked for a place to stay. On the way they passed other Shadow Hunters curious about the newcomers. Unlike the first two, these Shadow Hunters were friendly, and some seemed to actually know Kisame. The first time they ran into one of these, Kisame had tried to introduce Itachi, but the brunette just slipped out of the way, not wanting to meet anyone just yet. Oddly, Kisame seemed to understand this and didn't draw attention to Itachi when they met up with more, he talked with them, promising time to catch up or accept a challenge on a fight match. Itachi ignored the curious glances until they found an empty room – courtesy of one of the Shadow Hunter's directions – they could share together.

"So…" Kisame glanced around to break the silence after he had dropped his bag on the bed closest to the door and Itachi sat down on the other bed that stood under a window that looked out onto an alley behind the building, "want something to eat?"

"No, thank you," Itachi replied.

"Something to drink?"

"No," he repeated, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know why he felt so tired and drained, but his hands were shaking slightly from the simple exertion of his other muscles were using just to keep himself upright.

"Would you like to know the rules?"

"Yes, please."

"Okay. Well… I'm sure you can guess the big one," Kisame began, sitting down himself. "Don't try to go talk to your vampire and don't try to free him. You'll be seen as a threat like he us. Uh, everything is free range within this sanctuary, but don't steal from others. Respect the other Hunters and don't start fights, though practice training is okay. Hey," he grinned enthusiastically. "How about we pass time training? I could teach you how to fight." At Itachi's non-committing shrug, he continued, "if you go outside, don't bring anyone in without the leader – that's Vivitsu or his partner, where ever they are – 's permission. Or anything, except food and stuff. Okay?"

"I understand."

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"No, you can go…" he said quietly. "I'm really … tired and I'd like to be alone."

"Alright," Kisame said, standing up and adjusted one of his straps. "I'll be back at dinner time to get you, okay?" He walked to the door, sparing a glance back at the brunette before shutting it behind him, leaving Itachi alone in the empty room to curly up under the blanket and fell into a fitful sleep.


	25. The Creature in the Mirror

Itachi rarely left his new bedroom for the next few days. He was often reminded that he was free to come and go as he pleased, but he didn't want to leave without Deidara. Deidara was a prisoner and so he was going to act like one too. At least, he tried to. Kisame was extremely persistent and worked diligently to make Itachi leave the room, not letting him be the hermit he wanted. The blue haired Shadow Hunter stopped bringing him food after a few days, so he had to follow him to the dining area and join the other Shadow Hunters for their meals. He tried to sit in the corner, but Kisame was skilled at forcing him into a chair with himself and the Shadow Hunters he had made quick friends with. During these times, he discovered that there were thirty Shadow Hunters in total, including Vivitsu's partner who appeared on their second day in. A woman with long dark hair, sharp eyes, and an even sharper tongue when she spoke. She surveyed him from across the room, but didn't approach him.

Kisame's offer of training was also forced upon him. He didn't exactly want to, but it was less of a headache to join him than listen to him trying to convince him. The big man commented that while he didn't look fit for fight, Itachi had impressive balance and dodging abilities. Itachi chose not to correct him when his companion praised the human teacher from his martial arts classes. Various forms of tag – more like cat and mouse – was one of Deidara's favorite games. Dodging out of harm's way was a quickly learned skill to avoid sudden disturbances. Playing sports with the wolf pack also helped quite a bit with keeping his balance when moving quickly in different directions. Kisame also taught him how to throw a knife and gave pointers on Itachi's defensive skills with hand to hand defense when dealing with paranormal creatures. The only thing Itachi refused to handle were the long silver blade that was standard among the Shadow Hunters. Kisame explained how every Shadow Hunter, regardless of their occupation, learned to wield it. The silver in the blade had magic laced in it that was effective against most paranormal. They were the same blades that held Deidara prisoner and he would not touch them.

"Why do some Shadow Hunters wear different colors?" Itachi asked Vivitsu during an evening conversation on their eight day. His exhaustion had carried on each day, growing heavier and heavier, but he wasn't tired. Or perhaps he was too tired to feel tired enough to sleep, because he wasn't doing a good job of that either. The Shadow Hunter's food was refreshing and gave him enough energy to continue getting up every day, to make it through the training sessions, but once he had a chance to sit down, it all washed over him again and yet he could not fall asleep. Vivitsu didn't seem to mind his presence in his study, which was the only place he could be left alone. The two of them spoke irregularly; Vivitsu often poured over books, maps, and old papers rather than ask him questions – though he did so if Itachi initiated conversation, but watching him was relaxing on his own brain.

Vivitsu looked up with another welcoming smile. Itachi had been silent since he had answered his questions about the vampire council – though he had withheld a lot of details – thirty minutes ago. "The colors represent the colors of their work," he answered. "Dark blue is a Scholar, someone who handles books, wisdom, and planning. Black is worn by our Warriors, those who train for battle and strength. Red," he paused and smiled at his partner who had stepped into the room without knocking, closing the door behind herself, "red is for our magical Mages."

"I know about Mages," Itachi said softly.

"Do you? Where did you hear of them?"

"From a friend of mine. She said that they are trained in magic, but it runs against the Natural Ord—"

"Ridículo."

"Sophia," Vivitsu murmured softly. He turned back to Itachi. "Who told you that?"

"A witch. A very kind witch," Itachi told them.

Sophia drew a breath, possibly to rebuke him again in what he had learned was Spanish, but Vivitsu made a gesture with his hand and she remained silent. Itachi watched the exchange then decided to continue speaking. "Kisame is a Warrior," he asked for clarification and Vivitsu nodded. "What am I?"

"I don't know," Vivitsu gave a shrug. "You were lost to us before you were officially categorized. Usually your placement is chosen around age twelve, when childhood starts its end and adulthood begins. You were lost—"

"When I was six," he murmured to himself.

"Yes," Vivitsu nodded gravely. "The Elders watch children grow and decide what course of learning they would be best to focus on."

They sat in silence for a moment, a few pages turning from the large, old book the Shadow Hunter was reading before Itachi broke it with an assured decision. "I am a Scholar, like you."

"Are you?" Vivitsu asked, looking delighted. "Kisame has taken a liking to you, but from what my partner tells me from her observations, you two have an unfinished connection."

"Unfinished connection?"

"Yes, he was supposed to be your partner. The connection between two Shadow Hunter partners is a magical connection, though it is mainly a balance of abilities and personalities… Sophia?" he inquired.

"The Elders watch children grow and decide what course of learning would be best to focus on. There isn't ever two Warriors, two Mages, or two Scholars in a partnership. No balance," she waved her hand a little. "Two children are chosen who interact well together. Balance, support, strengthen weaknesses. They are connected by a bond tightened by magic. Partners can be chosen as young as five but no older than fifteen."

"Kisame was supposed to be my partner."

"I'm sure you've noticed an inclination to him," Vivitsu commented. "He naturally fell into his role, since he was raised to do so, but you were raised differently. Even though you don't remember him, you still feel comfortable around him, though you barely know him, and you have a difficult time trusting the rest of us."

Itachi thought quietly as he turned the book in his hand over and over. Sixteen days he had been alone in his head. Sixteen days since he had been with Kisame. It was not the same as being around Deidara. He did trust Kisame to an extent, much more than he felt he could the other Shadow Hunters. Why that was, he couldn't easily pinpoint, but what he said made perfect sense. Something about himself had been recognized by Kisame so many months ago through the shop window. He had known him despite the distance of time. It made him feel guilty because he couldn't do the same.

"Is that why Kisame said he was a 'Linkless'?" he asked suddenly. "He didn't tell me what that is, but… does that mean he doesn't have a partner?"

"Yes," Vivitsu replied with a nod. "Those whose partners dies, or couldn't be placed with a partner becomes a Linkless. They're a bit like freelance workers, they don't have partners so they're not at full capacity – though many, Kisame included, are extremely capable." He hesitated, exchanging glances with Sophia as though he were bracing himself to say something unpleasant. "Though that magic that binds you could be completed… if you were to sever your current connection with the—"

"No," Itachi interrupted in stone faced seriousness.

"I know you are resolute," Vivitsu replied. "I just want to give you information." He carefully adjusted the books on his desk, looking distraught in his thoughts. "The Elders," he began finally, "will not allow the connection to stand. There are many who believe it is an abomination that goes against much of our livelihood. But they will not allow you to just depart from us. You are one of our own, even if you do not wish to be. The Elder Council will try to persuade you … by any means."

"So I don't have any choice at all," Itachi commented dully. "What will happen to Deidara?"

"I don't know," Vivitsu murmured.

"They'll kill him," Itachi stated.

"Possibly…"

"No, probably," interrupted the brunette again, sitting up straighter as he let his mind predict the most likely course of action so that he could explain it to Vivitsu, his tiredness departing briefly. "If the connection is broken between us, the Shadow Hunters have no use for Deidara. Common courtesy would be to release him, you have no use for him, but you are all terrified of him and he's someone who has just been kidnapped and held violently for weeks. On top of that, he's a very possessive vampire, whose favorite human – that would be me – has been taken away, whose soulmate has been violently ripped from him. Shadow Hunters are terrified of him, of child vampires because of their unpredictability. That is far too dangerous a creature to release into the world. You would be safer just letting us both go now when I can try and convince Deidara to let you all go alive. Because if you hurt me, he won't let you live and if you kill him, I'll happily return the action twice over."

"Are you threatening us?" Sophia demanded, rising to her feet with her hand slipping towards her pocket.

"Yes," Itachi responded, remaining in his seat.

"Please calm down," Vivitsu said to both of them, holding his hands up. "Sophia, you know we feel the same way about our partners. Itachi, I understand your feelings but there is nothing I can do. We are under orders and we cannot disobey them. When we arrive, you may try pleading your case then."

Sophia and Itachi continued to glare at each other until Vivitsu turned to his partner and began speaking to her in rapid Spanish. She replied in a snapping manner but when Vivitsu simply frowned at her and shook his head she sat back down with her arms tightly folded and glared out the window. Itachi watched her curiously and then looked over at Vivitsu who sighed quietly and picked up his pen to write something. He wondered if he could find someone to teach him Spanish next, then remembered sadly that Belle had offered him French so long ago. He had never put much store into learning languages before, but their importance had revealed themselves this trip. Vivitsu noticed him looking and smiled at him.

"Simply because we are partners does not mean we get along," he told him. "We balance each other where it is needed and both seek for success on our missions." He didn't say anything more, wouldn't speak poorly of his partner, but the expression that crossed his face with Sophia not looking at him spoke the words for him. "I'm sure you've had disagreements with your vampire as well, regardless of your connection."

Itachi considered this, then chose to reveal a bit of their secrets to him. "We aren't connected by magic like that," he told him. "We shared our souls, so a bit of us is living in each of us. We have our own mind spaces, but there's also a space we share where we're basically the same person. We can't really argue there because we know how the other is thinking and it'd be arguing with ourselves. We discuss things there."

"How interesting," Vivitsu commented, leaning forward with professional curiosity. "What is this 'mind space' you speak of?"

"It's just…" Itachi paused, wondering how to describe it. "It's a place you create in your mind that is where all your thoughts are stored, like visualizing your own mind so you can also visualize any connections you have. Deidara, for example, has three doors out of his mind as well. One is to me, one to his Maker, and one to the space we share. I only have two – one to Deidara and one to the spa—"

"You have been communicating with that creature this whole time?" Sophia suddenly spoke angrily again, making a sudden motion as if she couldn't decide whether to leap at him, leap to her feet, or simply move to the edge of her chair. It made Itachi flinch before he could stop himself, thoroughly expecting an attack.

"No, I ha—"

"You've been letting him wander around free," she snapped at Vivitsu. Itachi wondered if she was using English on purpose this time. "I told you not to trust such a blood traitor—"

"I haven't been communicating with Deidara because I can't," Itachi insisted loudly before they started arguing. "Part of sharing our souls means we can both feel whatever pain each of us is feeling."

"Ah," Vivitsu breathed before Sophia could respond. "He has barricaded himself from you so you won't feel the blades holding him down."

"What a lie," Sophia snapped as Itachi nodded cheerlessly. "Why would such a creature do that for their blood bank?"

"I am not a blood bank," Itachi said angrily. "Your prejudice—"

"He's a monster," Sophia interrupted. "¿Eres ton—"

"Sophia," Vivitsu interrupted her, rising to his feet and moving between them.

"You will come with us and stand before the Elder Council who will determine how badly you have betrayed us," Sophia snarled. "And I hope I will be chosen to help remove your precious vampire."

"Sophia, enough," Vivitsu said firmly.

She glared at him, then turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut with unnecessary force. Vivitsu clenched and unclenched his fists then turned to face Itachi, who felt himself shaking in rage at his partner and the whole lot of them. "I am sorry," he said to Itachi and there was sincerity in his voice.

Itachi couldn't bring himself to say anything polite, so he set the man's book back down on the desk and turned to walk out of the room.

The room repulsed him. It was old and poorly cared for, left to decay in its own repugnant insides, hiding its vile secrets from the rest of the building. All buildings had rooms like this. Forgotten rooms, left to die. He was not the first to enter this room, not the first nor the last who to entertain the secrets hidden here, to add to them. Generally, he found rooms like this fascinating, the smells that lingered here intrigued his senses, for not only did it hold secrets, it reeked with the scent of fear and pain from it's previous forgotten occupants. Forgotten things terrified humans. Now he was in the room. Fear seeped out of the door cracks from the outside. These Shadow Hunters were terrified of him and that fear had been sustaining him until he saw him.

A wave of anxiety thrust itself through his broken body.

"Itachi," he breathed, allowing the stale air in his lungs to escape.

Deidara had been perfectly content to wait out the Hunters, to hear something slip about the situation in Germany to know when the right moment to retaliate would be. He had been held longer than this before. But now Itachi was here and he had to reassess the circumstances. Itachi was here, in the Hunters' hands. He looked so tired. So distressed. So downtrodden. He had to help his human. Because he was his human and he was his. Itachi was perfectly healthy, he could tell by his smell, but Deidara was not. He hadn't fed in weeks and his movements were restricted to nothing so that he could not even shift to turn his head away from the painful blinding sunlight that streamed through the windows during the day time. Itachi was diminished and it was because of him. He wanted to be close to Itachi, to make sure he was alright, but did not want to open the connection between them. Pain was something he could handle, but he didn't believe Itachi could do the same. Unnecessary pain was not something he would subject him to and he did not trust himself to not lose himself to his scent and break out to feed on him.

A door opened, sending a gust of air and smells his way. It was that man. That Hunter that attacked them the night he took Itachi out to walk the city together. The one that had touched Itachi's arm while he was away. Itachi's would-be partner.

"Kisame Hoshigaki," he breathed out, tasting the air. "I'd get up, but I'm a little pinned down at the moment, un."

The man didn't reply and Deidara strained himself to lift his head, the blade in his back slicing a little deeper. He smirked at the Hunter as he approached slowly. Unlike the others, this one didn't stink of fear. He smelled of curiosity, caution, food, sweat, and Itachi. Not closely Itachi, but they must be sharing the same living space together. The Hunter knelt so that they were nearly at eye level and he placed a black blade laced with silver between them. A flag of peace perhaps?

"What do you want?" he whispered.

"I want to speak with you," Kisame told him.

"Oh? I thought you were coming to braid my hair, un," he sneered.

"Shut up," Kisame retorted, shifting his weight to become more comfortable, but still capable of moving quickly when necessary.

"What do you want?" Deidara growled.

"I want to know why you closed that connection you have with Itachi."

He stared at the man unblinking for several moments before giving him a haughty expression. That had not been what he expected to be talked about, but, he reconsidered, perhaps it made sense. "What does that matter to you?" he questioned darkly.

"Because it's … it's bothering him."

What a poor choice of words. Too light, ignorance of reality. Or maybe he was attempting to keep information from him – as if Deidara wouldn't know how Itachi felt despite blocking him out. "I know."

"Then why are you doing it? Just to be a dick?"

"Isn't that what us blood suckers do?" Deidara smirked. "We're selfish, hungry monsters who love to put our humans in such uncomfortable situations." His sarcasm left his voice. If Kisame knew enough of Itachi's status as a Human Servant, Itachi must have trusted him enough to give him certain information. "This is not a relationship like your Shadow Hunter partners, Hunter," he continued. "He has a piece of my soul and I have a piece of his. You don't have to tell me how he is, I know what he is feeling."

"And?"

"Are you stupid?" Deidara shouted into the din, his voice echoing against the blackened, moldy walls. "That feeling goes both ways." He shifted purposefully, the blades slicing deeper cuts into his body. Kisame watched the blood sliding down the blades without a wince, then looked back at his face. "Do you want Itachi to feel this?"

The man's jaw clenched and he seemed to be chewing on that information, unfazed by his shouting. He was very good at keeping his face unreadable, but the slight crease of his brows tightened slightly as he began to understand. Itachi couldn't handle this. He remembered the terror and pain that Itachi had woken up to. How he had called out to him in panic. Pain was something he was used to. Itachi was too innocent.

"He's getting weaker," Kisame finally stated, his voice softer than it had been. "He barely eats or sleeps, but sometimes sleeps too much and isn't rested. He can barely stand on his feet, but he isn't feverish or sick. "It's because you're growing weaker, isn't it?"

"Why are you talking to me?" Deidara questioned, growing tired of these games.

"Because you're… He's…"

"Because you were supposed to be his partner?" Deidara offered, his lower lip jutting out in a mockery pout. "Cause you're concerned for him?"

Kisame gave him a dark expression, but didn't answer him. Shadow Hunters were especially weak minded when it came to their partners. One of those cultural things they had and were made to feel incomplete without. Deidara didn't know much about Shadow Hunter culture, but he was pretty certain only one partner was allotted in a Hunter's lifetime. Learning that his supposed partner was alive was like kneeling in front of a starving vampire with a small nick from an earlier accident in a training exercise. Deidara eyed the small wound on the man's arm where the blood had clotted and tried to keep itself from becoming infected. He licked his lips.

"I just don't like seeing him like this. I want to help him feel better," Kisame finally replied. "How?"

"There is something in my pocket," Deidara finally told him. "Grab it for me."

The Hunter shot him a warning glance before reaching to check his pockets, then became irritated when he had to run his hands over the front and back pockets of his jeans while the blond smirked at him. From the inside pocket of his jacket, he finally pulled out a small package with two small vials inside. They both fit easily in the palm of Kisame's hand and he raised them up to examine. The wax that held the corks in wax wasn't broken, the bottles empty.

"What are these?"

"Bottles," Deidara replied with a smirk. "Our relationship is strengthened by blood. Mine to him, his to me. You take my blood, give it to Itachi. Take the other to Itachi too, tell him to put some of his blood in it and bring it back to me. The exchange will make him feel better."

"Give you blood?" Kisame scoffed angrily. "I am not stupid."

"You sure about that?" Deidara snickered evilly. "That little bottle? It'll only hold a mouthful. Barely enough to do anything for me, but it will strengthen the bond with Itachi and let him relax and not feel my pain. It won't set your boss's progress back. I'll be stuck here and Itachi will be able to relax."

Kisame stared at him for several of his own heartbeats. This one did not rely solely on his muscles, but was also clever and smart. He was assessing him before coming to his own conclusions. "And you can't help him without it?"

"Not in my current state, un."

"So it does make you stronger," Kisame countered with a frown.

"State of being," Deidara clarified, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I can get up and go over to him, can I?"

The Shadow Hunter's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but remained silent.

"It will be Itachi's blood, un," Deidara clarified with sarcastic slowness. "Do you really know so little about the creatures you like to hunt?" He gave a great huff of air that hurt quite a bit, but he felt it gave the right impression as he blew his grimy hair from his face. "Just drinking my blood won't help him. Do your damn research."

An irritated expression crossed Kisame's face, but he took a slow breath and opened one of the bottles and held it against the blade where his blood was sliding down towards the floor. The bottle filled quickly and he corked it again and slipped it in the packet with its twin and put both into one of his pockets as he stood. "I'll think about it," he said, turning to stride back to the door he had disappeared into with Itachi ages ago. Deidara watched him curiously, wondering if that door was being guarded and how much precaution had been taken by the man to get in here. "Question," he stopped, turning on his heels to face Deidara again, holding a finger up. "Why didn't that bullet affect you at all?"

"The wolf bullet?" Deidara questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It had the same silver that's in those blades," Kisame gestured to him to indicate his entrapment.

Deidara cast his eyes down to the ground, thinking back tot hat night. What had happened that night? It had been Rose's first night of her Change. He had taken Itachi to the city to get him his new cellphone and laptop. They had been walking and Itachi had felt something wrong. "The bullet was small," he began, looking up at him again. "And I had recently fed and was well rested in my home city. It was made for a baby wolf, not a vampire. Not for me."

Kisame gave a soft hum of thought that was both neutral and interested, then reversed his turn and left Deidara alone in the dim cesspool of forgotten torture.

Angry at everyone around him, Itachi began a deliberate journey through the building the Shadow Hunters occupied, carefully avoiding places where they gathered. There weren't many people around, but when someone did pass by him, they gave him a wide berth with a distinct air of caution. That gave him a clue as to how angry he actually was. He couldn't remember ever feeling rage like this before. What had they done? Nothing. He and Deidara had done nothing wrong. Nothing at all. It was beyond any selfishness he had ever seen that they would want him back. Just because his family had been Shadow Hunters, he had no choice in the matter? They were going to kill Deidara no matter what he did. Backed into a corner, he felt like punching a wall to relieve his stress, but logic held him back. A broken hand would not benefit him in any way. Perhaps it was because he was so tired that Vivitsu's partner's attitude was affecting him so. Perhaps it was that small part of Deidara in him that gave this tendency to overreact to things. This wasn't overreacting though. This was infuriating.

Storming down a flight of stairs, he stepped into a basement of corridors lit by the same little baubles that Vivitsu had in his study, filled with gentle, white magical flames. He stopped to look at them, slightly marveled at the way they illuminated his path, their light reflecting peacefully off of the many mirrors that hung on the walls. Taking a step, he began walking around the baubles, passed the mirrors. If he did get Deidara out, they still wouldn't be safe. The Shadow Hunters would come after them again and again. They'd never be safe.

Stopping in one of the hallways where there was a blank space between two mirrors with a grand looking one across from it, old and bordered with metal details. He ran his hands through his hair and gave a heavy sigh. The only option he could think of was toe convince the Shadow Hunters to leave them alone, that they were not a danger to the Shadow Hunters, and not to take him back. And then of course he would need to convince Deidara not to kill them all for trying in the first place. How exactly he was going to manage all that was beyond his ability to think and he was too tired to try formulating a plan. Leaning back against the wall, he sighed and thought about Tal, wondering if this was how Tal felt all the time and wondered how he managed it… though, he reasoned, Kali wasn't being held as a prisoner. He looked at his reflection and wondered if he should just go back to the room he shared with Kisame and try to sleep. In the mirror, his reflection shifted.

Jumping slightly, suddenly wide awake, Itachi leaned forward and stared at his reflection. Yet the more he stared, the less he was able to see himself. And behind him wasn't a wall, but a room. A tiny square stone room that had no windows or doors. Perhaps the mirror itself was the window, but he had seen his reflection first, that he was sure. Taking a step closer, he frowned and glanced behind him – just to make sure there wasn't a room behind him – and then back to explore the room with his eyes. It seemed entirely bare, no furniture or oddities decorated it, but he realized when something shifted that the room was not empty.

The creature in there had its back to him, but he knew it was aware of his presence beyond the glass of the mirror. It was horrific, yet beautiful at the same time. Dark and menacing. It seemed to be made of smoke, yet solidified as it gathered in one place. Fear grabbed at the edges of Itachi's being, but he felt as though he had no reason to fear this thing… yet there was something that made his legs shake slightly. Was this a cage? It looked like a jail cell now that he saw the creature. What was it? He wanted it to speak because the longer it stood in silence the closer the fear got to him. It knew he was there. He knew it knew, so why wasn't it speaking? Why didn't it turn around? It wouldn't speak, it just grew darker, more frightening. He would have to speak to engage it in conversation.

"What are you?" he asked, wincing slightly as it came out. He had meant to ask 'who are you', but that had come out instead.

It had the desired effect though. The creature turned and Itachi suddenly wished he had its back still. The face was a grotesque mix of beast and human, large horns slid out from its temples and curved angrily. Its mouth was split almost to the horns, thick, yellowed teeth slid from its gums almost horizontally instead of vertically. It stood on two legs that had an extra joint as an animal would and he now saw that the shifting smoke was actually wings that wrapped around its shoulders like a cloak. It looked at him and crouched in a non-threatening position though it didn't help much. "What a strange question for a Silluetu to ask me," it commented, the voice was deeper than he expected and distorted by the shape of its mouth. "Let me ask you the same thing, little Silluetu."

"I'm not a … whatever that is…" Itachi swallowed, staring at it.

"You are a Soul Sharer," it murmured in a low rumble. "A Silluetu."

"I'm a Human Servant."

"That is a degrading name for what you are," it rumbled at him. "I am a demon, Silluetu."

"A… A real demon?" Itachi asked, before realizing how stupid that sounded.

"Yes," it replied, eyeing him curiously with its large black eyes. "I know your eyes, but not your face…"

"Why are you in there?" Itachi asked, glancing around the room again.

"Because I am an evil demon, of course," it crooned, taking a few steps closer.

Itachi fought the urge to take a few steps back. "I don't know, I've only just met you," Itachi replied.

The creature, the demon, hummed quietly at him, its head turning one way or another to get a better look at him. Something about his gaze stripped down his very being and laid it out to examine before it. "I am here because I know things that people with power do not want to be brought to light," the demon told him, coming right up to the mirror's inner glass, its breath creating condensation. "And because I have a peckish delight for the tender, fatty meat of human babies."

Itachi swallowed thickly. "Why are you in the mirror?"

"You are… a Shadow Hunter, are you not?" the demon rumbled, packing up so it could pace to and fro in front of the mirror, or perhaps it was turning its head to give each of his eyes a full look at him.

"No," Itachi said firmly, wishing it would blink or turn around. "I am a Human Servant."

"Silluetu," it corrected, then paused, one eye staring transfixed on him before it snorted like a disgruntled beast. "That is how you trap a demon," it explained. "Demons cannot pass through mirrors."

Itachi blinked, curiosity catching. "Why not?"

The mirror became foggy again as the demon breathed on it. "Because I have no soul as you do."

"Mirrors don't reflect souls," Itachi countered with a frown. "They reflect light and the light that bounces off bodies at specific angles."

Somehow, despite the monstrous features of its face, the demon looked rather annoyed. "Yes, boy. Science explains it all, doesn't it," it growled. "Like the sun going around the earth, the earth being flat, the earth being only six thousand years old and a god making mankind in his image. Science, boy, is an ever-changing matter. Can your science explain how part of your soul is inside another body? Not only another body, but a _vampire_ body? Science doesn't yet have all the answers. One day it may, but not yet. Every time you look in the mirror, something is different," it gnashed its teeth, but not in a threatening way. "Nothing exceptionally drastic has changed about the physical features of the body, but it is different. Sometimes you see something you like. Sometimes you see something you don't. Sometimes you cannot recognize the thing you see in your mirror. That is because it reflects the soul and the world the soul dwells. And, of course, _light_."

There were so many things he didn't understand about the world since he met Deidara. He had thought he had understood a lot of it, but apparently everything seemed to be wrong now. Swallowing another mouthful of saliva, he wet his lips and spoke calmly. "And they trapped you in there?" he prompted.

"I was forced into here purposefully, but it is easy for a demon to become trapped in a mirror on our own," it replied. "We can travel ethereal, but if we accidentally go through a mirror we cannot get out again."

"That's inconvenient," Itachi commented.

"Humans are stupid creatures, it's not so difficult to get out again," it made a sound like a laugh and shifted into a crouch again. "Have you heard of the folklore game Bloody Mary?"

"No."

It chuckled again. "You stand in front of the mirror with the light off and say 'Bloody Mary' three times and then you turn on the light, and Bloody Mary will be behind you in the mirror and she kills you."

"And it works?" Itachi asked, wondering why in the world anyone would play that kind of game.

"It doesn't matter," it crooned. "It invites evil in. invites anything trapped in the mirror out into the space with you. You break a mirror, you may have released something to torment you for seven years, or perhaps until something gets bored."

Itachi stood back on his heels, thinking about these things. He had heard of the seven years of bad luck and he supposed it made sense, but it was still strange to think about. "You said you were in here because you knew things… why would they put you in here then? Where you can tell people what you know?"

"Because there is no Shadow Hunter who would listen to a demon," the creature asked, grinning maliciously. "I know a secret the Mages want to remain a secret, but demons are not so easily killed."

"The Mages?"

The demon moved closer so its horns touched the glass of the mirror again. The metal of the frame cracked as though breaking, but the cracks sealed again. "You are a vampire's Silluetu, but you are also a Shadow Hunter. You do not know the Mages?" he stared with narrowed eyes.

"I know of them," Itachi said, a little defensively. "I know they use magic that runs against nature, but that's really all I know."

The demon stepped away from the mirror and crouched against the wall, still facing him. "What is your station? Have you been told?"

"No," Itachi responded, wondering what he meant. "I… I grew up away from the Shadow Hunters."

The demon continued to stare at him, sizing him up and making deductions as it did so. "You… You are an Uchiha," it finally said, leaning forward slightly. "One of the great Shadow Hunter family… the most Noble Clan of Uchiha."

Then Itachi did take a step back and stared, eyes wide at the demon. "What?" he stammered out. "How did you know?"

"You look like your mother. And all Uchihas have those bloody eyes," the demon gnashed its teeth again and tilted his head to the side as if remembering something.

"And… you knew my mother?"

"I killed your mother," it grinned devilishly.


	26. The Noble and Ancient Uchiha Clan

Disbelief clouded his mind so badly it was difficult to latch onto a single thought. His mind flew into several different patterns of maze like thought. All he needed was for one to settle, but his racing mind showed no sign of slowing down enough to pin anything down. The demon in the cage continued to turn its head to examine him, first one eye, then the other, its mouth opening slightly that seemed to resemble a dog's grin. It didn't look pleased but seemed to be interested in watching him. Perhaps it was just how it breathed, or… Itachi shook his head slightly. He didn't know anything about this type of creature. Closing his eyes, he filled his lungs with a deep inhale trying to calm his racing heart. He tried to speak, but someone calling his name down the hallway distracted him.

His eyes jerked down the hallway where the voice called again, then looked back at the mirror, but all he could see was his own reflection. There was a slight shadow behind his image, but it moved away from the glass and disappeared entirely. "Wait," he whispered desperately. "Wait, don't go. What do yo—?"

"Hey, Itachi," Kisame called again, coming around the corner. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I was just… exploring," Itachi said, glancing back at the mirror in disappointment, his own reflection just as disappointment.

"Down here?" the tall man glanced around at the various mirrors hanging on the walls. Focused on the one mirror, Itachi suddenly wondered if they all contained a demon in it. "Be careful, some things in this place can be dangerous. But, anyway, hey, I wanted to talk to you before we go eat." He gave a glance around the mirrors again and Itachi guessed he knew what the mirrors really were – what they held. "Let's go somewhere else. More private."

Itachi didn't want to leave. He wanted Kisame to go away so he could begin interrogating the demon in the mirror, but he doubted there was anything he could say to convince the man to leave him alone. Especially down here. Though he was also curious about what Kisame wanted to talk about. He gave the mirror another glance, mentally assuring it that he would return and hoped desperately that it would still be there to give him more answers before turning to follow him back out of the hallway and up the stairs again.

"What do you want to talk about?" Itachi questioned as he took a few extra steps to keep pace with the taller man.

"Not here," was the return mutter.

Curiosity spiking further, Itachi slipped his hands into his jacket pockets and patiently followed him back to the room they were sharing. Kisame seemed more agitated than usual as he glanced around and shut the door behind him. Itachi considered sitting down on his own bed, but stayed by the door, hoping this wouldn't take long so he could go back downstairs. He watched him pace the length of the room then turn to face him, something small in his big hands. "I have something for you," he said quietly. "And I need something from you."

"What?" Itachi asked quietly.

"I need your blood."

"What for?"

"Just a little bit," Kisame replied, seeming to realize how strange his request was. "Not for anything weird, okay?" He opened the little packet and withdrew two tiny little bottles from inside it. Itachi stared at them, taking a step away from the door so he could take and examine them closer. The bottles looked like the little one the witches had given Deidara. One of them was filled with something thick and red. He inhaled sharply.

"Where did you get these?" Itachi demanded in a soft voice.

"Just a bit," Kisame replied instead. "Will you do it?"

"Is this Deidara's blood?" Itachi asked, holding up the full bottle. "These bottles are Deidara's. How did you get them and why do you want my blood?"

Kisame glanced over Itachi's shoulder to the door as if making sure no one was listening through a crack and took a breath. "You are not doing so good," he replied in a lower voice. "It's like you're sick and wasting away, but your vampire says it's because he is getting weaker. So—"

"You went to talk to Deidara?" Itachi questioned, confusion crossing his face. Why would Kisame do that? And why did he have his blood? Why did he want Itachi's blood? To give it to Deidara? Why would Kisame want to give Deidara blood? And not just any blood, but his own blood which would make Deidara much stronger than anyone else's blood…

Kisame looked a little more embarrassed. "I don't like that you're doing so poor," he murmured. "I want to help you." Vivitsu's explanations about partners came to mind and Itachi swallowed his criticism. "It's just a little bit. Your damn vampire got pretty snarky when I questioned why he needed your blood to make you feel better," his voice became annoyed, much more like his normal self, "'it's just a mouthful'," he said in a mocking voice. "'Our bond is by blood not magic.' So yeah … just a little. You drink his blood, then I take yours to him and you'll feel better. I'm not setting him free, I'm not helping him, I'm just making you feel better."

Itachi blinked and stared at him a moment before his eyes fell back down to the bottle. Deidara was sneaky. "Okay," he said quietly, opening the bottle full of blood. The blood that spilled on his tongue felt very different from the last time he had drunk Deidara's blood and suspected it was because it wasn't from the source. He made a face as he swallowed it, smacking his lips at the stickiness left there.

"Yeah, I didn't think it'd be all that good either," Kisame commented, watching him.

"It normally doesn't taste so bad. It's just not… fresh," Itachi told him, swallowing the mouthful. He felt it roll down his throat and the part of him that was Deidara reached out for it like a life line and he felt a great weight falling off his shoulders. Ignoring the expression on Kisame's face, he looked down at the clean bottle. "Do you have a needle or something?"

"Uh, no… I have my knife though," Kisame offered. "It's pretty sharp, so it shouldn't hurt that bad."

Itachi cringed a little, but he held out his hand anyway. Kisame continued to stare at him as if trying to judge whether or not Itachi was serious than unsheathed it and handed it to Itachi who made a small, shallow cut on his inner forearm. Using his teeth to open the bottle, Itachi held up the tiny mouth against the cut and watched the blood drip into it slowly. He wished he could give him more than this little bottle's worth of blood. He knew he needed it badly, but Kisame was watching and he only filled it to the neck of the bottle. The Shadow Hunter pressed a clean cloth on the cut and Itachi avoided his eyes, knowing they held questions he didn't want to answer for fear of saying the wrong thing. Kisame would want him to clarify anything Deidara told him. He also knew Kisame might have questions about the blood, why he would allow Deidara to feed from him, but regardless of any prejudice the Shadow Hunters had of vampires, Deidara didn't push his humans to give him their blood. At first he had, but when they came back to Germany, he waited until Itachi offered his blood. If he needed it, Itachi would give it willingly. If he could, he would sneak past all the Shadow Hunters and give it all to him, but Deidara would be furious with him and it would put both of them in greater danger.

Corking the bottle, he held it out and finally stared intently at Kisame. "You're just going to take it down to him?" he asked quietly.

"Not right away," the man replied, taking the precious bottle away from him and tucked it into his pocket. "Maybe when the shift changes. He said it'll help strengthen your bond with him and will make you stronger. Maybe then you'll be a decent sparring partner."

Itachi gave a halfhearted smile and sat back on the bed. "Perhaps … I don't really like fighting," he admitted. "Though I understand the benefit of learning to defend myself." He watched Kisame fingering the pocket containing the bottle and knew he was still mulling the mystery of the bottle over. He found it odd that Kisame would go to speak to Deidara when he had been so adamant about not helping them. That he would believe Deidara's lie was an entirely new troubling thing. Itachi knew Kisame was worrying about him, and with good reason. His reflection was becoming more unrecognizable every time he saw it. The time spent in Italy while waiting for Deidara's punishment to end and he had refused to eat was the closest to how he felt now, except it was worse because he was feeling Deidara's aches and exhaustion. What was Deidara thinking? What if Kisame hadn't believed him? It was only a little bit of blood, but his blood was much better for Deidara. If Kisame had known more about Human Servants and had known he was lying they'd be in a lot of trouble. At the same time, Vivitsu had been right, he did trust Kisame and the thought of lying to him didn't sit well with Itachi.

"Kisame," he said quietly after a few moments of silence. "I'm not staying here with you."

"I know."

"So why are you trying to help me?" Itachi questioned, his tone serious. "I'm not your partner and I won't ever be."

"I know," Kisame repeated with a slight shrug. "It just seems like fun. Why do anything if it isn't fun?"

"Then why not go a step further and help us get out?"

"Fun doesn't mean a death sentence," Kisame commented with a grin. He pointed at the pocket containing the bottled blood. "This better work though. You've been a lot less fun lately, alright?"

Itachi leaned back against his pillow without drawing his feet up on the bed, but dangling awkwardly over the edge of the bed. Deidara's blood seemed to be spreading through his whole body and he felt as though he could finally sleep and rest. It was hard to rest here, not only because of the shared torture with Deidara, but because the Shadow Hunters made it impossible to feel relaxed with danger all around. The only person he could relax around was Vivitsu. He did enjoy talking to him and hearing about him talk about Guyana, his home country miles away in northern South America where he and Sophia had grown up, and his pet project of pouring over old maps to research the change in geography over time. Yet he was still a Shadow Hunter and was the leader of the group sent to imprison Deidara. Shadow Hunters were about duty and wouldn't go back on an order, nor would they act without one. The need to have someone else giving orders didn't sit well with Itachi. Who had given the order to go after them? What had they done to be bothered with? He had to go back and see that demon in the mirror as soon as possible. It, perhaps, would give him some of the answers no one had ever been able to give him. Going back down there alone would be impossible with Kisame hanging around, so he used his toe to kick his shoes off and curled up on the bed. Perhaps he could finally sleep.

Silence enveloped him. He didn't know if Kisame was still in the room with him. Perhaps he had left, or perhaps he had gone to sleep as well. 'As well'? Was he also asleep? He hadn't fallen asleep so quickly in ages, but he still felt that he was on his new bed in the room he shared with his would-be partner. Something gentle and familiar touched the side of his face and he knew it was Deidara. His blue eyes were inches from his red ones when he opened them. He felt as though he were floating. Were they in the space they shared? He didn't remember going there, just like the first time it happened. Perhaps Deidara had pulled him in himself if that were possible. His hand was touching the side of his face and they both sighed happily at the missed contact.

"I'm sorry," the vampire whispered unhappily, his voice echoing slightly in their minds. Something strange had happened to their space; he could feel it without looking away from Deidara's face. It seemed dark and frightened, which didn't make sense because places couldn't feel things. Finally pulling his eyes from Deidara, he looked down at his shoulder. It was unmarked, but when he touched it gently, his fingers came back red and agony spread from each of the places a silver blade pierced Deidara. He whimpered through clenched teeth as he grasped Deidara's arms to stabilize himself and tried to breath evenly. "I'm sorry," Deidara repeated in distress, and he knew he meant exposing him to the pain. "I'll be fast. Did you give that Hunter your blood?"

"Yes," Itachi gasped.

"Did you drink mine?"

"Yes."

"Good," Deidara murmured, and moved as if to leave him, but Itachi threw his thoughts around the blond without knowing what he was doing, only that he wanted him to stay. Deidara turned back to him and tried to push him away. "Let go, Itachi."

"No, I'm okay," Itachi lied firmly, sitting up. This magic was new to him, but he wondered if what he had done to hold Deidara was the same way Deidara pulled him into the shared space. He lessened his grip on Deidara's arms, but still held them as though to physically keep him there. "Stay, please."

Deidara sighed an annoyed huff, fully aware Itachi was lying to him, but he didn't force him to let him go. Instead, he moved closer to him and slumped against his shoulders. Exhaustion clung to him like sludge. He had been unable to rest at all for quite some time and it was taking its toll. The disease of it was eating at his insides and tickling his brain worse than it had in ages. But he could not rest. There was still a lot to do and his attention needed to be sharp. Itachi wondered if Deidara knew he could feel all this and wished that he could help him. The vampire didn't like sharing the pain of the blades and hunger with his human but being there with him made him feel slightly better.

"Deidara?"

"Hm?"

"You lied to Kisame…"

The blond shifted slightly, lifting his head up to look at him with an expression with a bizarre mixture of innocence and mischievousness on his face. "Does that bother you?" he asked.

"I don't know," Itachi admitted. "Kisame's been nice to me, but I think it's just because I was supposed to be his partner. I do like him… as much as I can in this situation."

"Well, you're also easy to like, un," Deidara commented, wrapping his arms around him tighter. He rubbed his face against him as though he were rubbing his eyes because he was sleepy. Itachi could feel how displeased he was with the state Itachi was in. Not that Deidara was blaming Itachi. No, he was blaming the Shadow Hunters and was very unhappy about it. If he could, Deidara would kill every Hunter in his building.

"Kisame's been teaching me how to fight," Itachi told him in a small attempt to stop Deidara from getting too angry.

"I bet you love that," Deidara snorted, his mood lightening instantly.

"Not particularly."

"I know, I was being sarcastic."

"Oh…" Itachi gave a small smile and tucked his legs under himself. "It's not that bad. He is also teaching me to defend myself against paranormal creatures, so that is useful. I prefer reading and watching."

"What else have you been doing?"

"Mostly stay in my room, but Kisame forces me to come out, but I've been spending a lot of time with the leader Vivitsu. I like talking to him, he's very nice. His partner, though, is…"

"A bitch," Deidara finished, making a face. "She made the magic on the blades to stop the healing process. Mages are like witches. They're either very nice or power hungry, un. Magic has that effect on people." He caught a lock of Itachi's hair and twirled it gently in his fingers.

"I don't like how much pain you're in," Itachi whispered.

"I'm fine," Deidara assured him, which was a lie. "I'll get you out, don't worry."

"I can help," Itachi assured him, but Deidara had begun shaking his head the moment he had opened his mouth. "I can. I know I'm still learning about the supernatural world, but the basics aren't that different than the human world. I'm not weak and I'm not dependent, Deidara – Stop shaking your head. I can do something. This is just a crash training in being a Human Servant."

Deidara's expression said he wasn't convinced, but he didn't argue with him. He was too tired. Itachi knew he viewed him as the weaker one. Even as a Human Servant, even knowing he was a Shadow Hunter by birth, the vampire still thought of him as being something fragile that needed to be protected. Deidara was a vampire after all. He could survive something like this. He had survived wars, famine, hunts, and persecution. Itachi had not seen any of these things as an innocent human and Deidara preferred that he never did.

"I can't imagine how you could help, un," the blond finally stated in a haughty tone that meant he wouldn't hear any of it. Not that he could stop him from here.

"There's a demon in the basement," Itachi told him instead of arguing himself. "It's… it's the demon."

"The demon?" Deidara questioned, but here their thoughts were mingled, and the answer came to him very quickly. "Oh… What do you mean it's here?"

"It's trapped in a mirror. It knows something," Itachi told him, turning slightly so he could face him. Deidara let his head fall from his shoulder onto his lap, too tired to keep himself upright, even in their minds, but he was listening. "I'm going to find out what it is."

"It will probably only eat you," Deidara muttered against his leg.

"It can't escape on its own," Itachi frowned, but stubbornly plowed on. "How much stronger will you be after Kisame gives you the blood?"

"Much," was the answer. "He's so stupid for believing that your blood would do so little for us… Not just because you're my Human Servant, but you're a Shadow Hunter, too… their magic is often made so they don't harm each other by accident. It will help against the magic."

Itachi looked down at the vampire, gently touching the place on his shoulder he knew the knife was still in Deidara's real body. There was still no mark here, but his fingers still felt something sticky and wet. How strange. Deidara didn't move or wince at his touch so Itachi didn't know if he could feel it or not. "You want to kill everyone here," Itachi commented quietly. There was movement against his leg and he knew that the vampire was licking his lips in vengeful hunger. "Can you not kill Kisame? If you can help it…"

Deidara rolled over onto his side so he could curl his body around Itachi and look up at him. He didn't answer right away, but Itachi was patient as the blond considered his request and debated whether or not he would grant it and why. Somehow, Itachi already knew his answer and he gave him a small smile when Deidara finally answered. "Why? Have you gotten attached to him?" Deidara replied. His tone was irritated, but Itachi could tell he was teasing. "I guess he's taken care of you enough not to die. Don't get too attached to him and agree to be his partner or whatever. You're still—"

"I won't let them separate us," Itachi interrupted, his expression serious again. "I don't want to be separated from you and if they do, they'll kill you. I won't let them."

"They're going to _try_ to kill me, un," Deidara corrected with a smirk. Itachi gave him a small smile at his assurance, but he wasn't as confident. "I don't think you should go talk to the demon… it's not safe."

"I am going," Itachi stated.

Deidara gave a soft groan and sighed. "Please don't let it eat you, or promise it anything…"

"I told you, it can't get out of the mirror."

Deidara's fingers laced behind Itachi's neck and pulled him down to give him a soft kiss. Even though his body was aching with terrible pain from Deidara, Itachi let himself relax and gave him a gentle kiss back. "We'll run away soon," Deidara murmured. "Like a movie."

"I don't think it will happen that way," Itachi told him logically.

"You never know, un," Deidara replied, giving Itachi's hair a tug. "You need a haircut."

"It has been getting in the way," mumbled the brunette as he pushed his long bangs out of his face.

"Itachi."

"Hm?"

"I'm going to leave you now," he told him, though he was still clinging to Itachi. "You need to be careful, un. Knowledge can be useful, but it can also get you killed. You have my soul and I won't get it back if you die. Nor will you get yours back if I die. Please don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not going to die," Itachi responded firmly. "I'm not fragile."

"You are to me," Deidara said in such a way that Itachi felt himself blushing slightly. "I'll be able to protect you again soon, un."

Itachi opened his eyes and the space slipped away from him. He was alone in his temporarily bed with no vampire resting against him. They pain they shared lingered like a dull ache after Deidara shut him out again, but his worries and fears that had fallen away returned again. The muscles on the side of his head throbbed with a growing headache, which he tenderly tried to rub out. Deidara was wrong. He wasn't fragile. He'd taken care of himself for many years before Deidara found him. He wasn't weak. He was smart and clever. When he first arrived here, he had no information whatsoever, but now he was successfully getting some. He was learning about the Shadow Hunters and their patterns. It would be helpful, and he was patient. He had no ties to these people and while he would rather they be released, and no one died, he didn't think it would bother him much if these people were at Deidara's mercy.

He rolled onto his side so that he could look out the window at the winter sky and took a deep breath. It wasn't that he couldn't take care of himself. He had sent the majority of his life taking care of himself. But now he had Deidara – someone he wanted to take care off too. It was a new feeling to him after being alone for so long. The last time he had felt like this was towards his brother…

His brother…

Could he really be alive? If he was, there was no way he would allow the Shadow Hunters to get their hands on him. He didn't want to introduce his brother to this new world if he would be in danger. He wondered what he was like. Sasuke would be a teenager now. Was he doing well in school? Was he healthy? Did he remember him? Did he think Itachi was dead? Did he miss him? He hoped he remembered him…

When he awoke the next day, he was still alone in the room though Kisame's bed looked distinctly slept in, so he must have returned at some point. Pulling on his clothes, he wandered down the mess hall to get breakfast, feeling slightly more rested than he had in weeks. The blood had done its work to help him, though he still felt as though he needed more sleep. Kisame wasn't there, so he ate alone before wandering through the halls again, planning. Was it safe for him to go straight down there? Kisame had found him down there once before and though he hadn't commented on it, he was sure Kisame knew what the mirrors held. It was probably best to figure out where each of the Shadow Hunters were before he made his way down there. Finding all them all proved difficult however. There were thirty in total, but not all of them were in the building at the same time. Quietly as possible, he slipped through the hallways, listening to the voices in the rooms he passed to guess how many were inside. He felt the majority were in the common areas and finally stopped outside of Vivitsu's room to listen closely. There were voices inside. He recognized Sophia's voice speaking English, so he decided it wasn't just herself and Vivitsu because she spoke Spanish to him when they were alone.

It was difficult to make out exactly what she was saying, but he gathered that Deidara and himself were the main topic of discussion. He gathered after a few moments that they were trying to figure out how to safely transport Deidara and himself. Sophia said something that sounded like a question.

"Itachi won't like it," responded Kisame's voice, much closer to the door.

"What he wants doesn't matter," was Sophia's clearer reply. She must have moved closer to the door herself. "It will ensure our safety. And, since you two care so much for that blood traitor's safety, you can consider it safe for him too."

The statement must have been made to Vivitsu because Kisame didn't reply. He heard a softer voice he recognized vaguely as Vivitsu's, but it was too low for Itachi to hear. When the voices began again, they were more muffled, deeper in the study. He wondered how they would transport Deidara and where they were going. Would he get to see him when it happened? It must be soon and he didn't want to be caught eavesdropping outside of the study, so he hurried alone the hallway, deciding it was safe to take the long route to the downstairs basement with all the mirrors.

The baubles still hung, suspended and unaffected by the world outside the hallway, giving off their soft light that reflected eerily on the mirrors. It was so quiet it seemed as though time was frozen and, as he passed by the various shaped mirrors on the wall, he wondered if they all contained a demon trapped inside as well. Finally, he stopped in front of the mirror he had carved into his memory. It was perhaps three feet high and two feet wide, its edges wrought in a dull metal that twisted into various patterns of vines and engravings. Itachi didn't know much about antique items, but he imagined the mirror to be handcrafted and very old. As he approached it, he saw his reflection and was pleased that he could put forth his calm determination into his expression despite half of his brain telling him to run away.

"Excuse me," he said politely, and his reflection silently mimicked his movements before fading away to reveal the inside of the mirror.

The demon was crouched against the far wall, running its tongue over a bone that looked as though it had just been cleaned of its fleshy attachments. It gave a thick, deliberate swallow as it grinned at Itachi. "Silluetu, how nice of you to return to me," it murmured, before beginning to gnaw on the edge of the bone. "It's been many years since I've had such frequent company."

"Will you be willing to tell me," Itachi began, sliding his hands into his jacket to have something to do with them and to hide them in case their clamminess betrayed his nerves, "why you killed my family?"

The demon's head tilted slightly to the side so that it was staring at him with one terrifying eye. "Why would I tell you such a story?" it crooned.

"Because you were put in this mirror so no one would listen to your story," Itachi responded confidently. "Because no Shadow Hunter would listen to it. Except for me."

The creature made its terrible chuckling sound and snapped the bone in half with its strong jaws before carefully licking out the marrow. Itachi wondered what the bone belonged to and how it got into the mirror. "That is true… and it's been such a long time since I had an audience.

"Shadow Hunters are a species of human," it began as though story-telling was its purpose in life. Itachi decide that at one point that was possible, depending on how old the demon was, but he settled into his story telling mode much like Sasori did. "Species," it repeated. "There were once many different species of human, but natural selection and fear drove what are now 'humans' to kill off or interbreed with most of the others. Imagine if poodles began killing off other dogs around the world," it made a sound like a laugh that made the hairs on the back Itachi's neck stand on end. "Shadow Hunters and Witches are both human, but have magic in them. I'm sure your beloved science would be able to study and explain how it happened, but humans are so much better at mass panic, aren't they? That is why you, a Shadow Hunter, can be a Silluetu. Your vampire was once a human as well. Silluetu is not vampire magic, it is Human magic, but humans have long forgotten the magic of sharing souls while vampires are rediscovering it.

"The Uchihas were a very well-known Shadow Hunter clan because they are a very old, pure blooded family that has never been mixed with other species of humans. Shadow Hunters produce less children than what is now considered humans do, sometimes cross breeding is necessary. The Uchihas were purebloods and it was – is – easy to spot one because of their eyes," it took a moment to lick its lips and began examining the bone. "Pureblood Shadow Hunters all have abnormal eye color, while mixed have more human appearances." Itachi blinked but didn't interrupt. Kisame had strange eyes too, was he pureblood?

"Because of their pure blood, their magic was stronger and not diluted. Their skills and magic more absolute. This meant that the Elder Council gave them the most difficult tasks of the Shadow Hunters, abusing their abilities. But the Uchihas were naturally peaceful people, they did not enjoy war and the clan gathered together and decided to do something no one of their kind had done: co-exist and live as humans or witches do. To find a middle ground between paranormal and themselves."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Itachi commented as the demon paused to pick up a new bone on the floor. There was a pile Itachi hadn't noticed at first; it appeared to be the remains of a cow. He wondered again how the demon got it and if the Shadow Hunters fed the demon.

The demon snickered cruelly. "What a boring life that would be," it responded, tearing at the skin left behind. "They did not tell the Elder Council of their decision, but the Mage Council found out. They were not happy." It paused and turned to give him a one-eyed stare again. "Do you know why witches are so dangerous, Silluetu?"

"Because magic is addicting, and it is easy for a witch to become power hungry and evil," Itachi replied like the good student he was.

"Shadow Hunter Mages use magic, too. Isn't it odd that no one ever questions whether they become power hungry?" he sneered at him. "Mages are different than witches. Witches are born with the magic inside them and can use or not use it as often as they like. Shadow Hunters have lost the skill of the magic they are born with and instead learn the skills, the spells, and magic is dangerous for someone not born with it. It makes you strong and useful, but if it isn't used, it begins to eat away at your body. The more magic you use, the more you _have_ to use it or else it will consume you. If Shadow Hunters were to co-exist with the paranormal, what would happen to the Mages whose magic was no longer necessary?"

"Can't they use their magic differently?" Itachi asked, though he knew what the demon would say. His conversations with Chloe and her cousins gave him that much insight.

"The addiction to the power… It wouldn't be enough to satisfy them. They would die," it replied. "Without constant war between Shadow Hunters and other creatures, their magic would eat them slowly from within. Despite this, the Uchiha Mages agreed that they would take the chance of death if it meant peace between the two sides and they convinced the Uchiha Scholars and Warriors not to hold on to their friends and lovers. The Mage Council knew that if they succeeded, other families would follow suit. They met in secret to decide what to do. Would it be better to allow them to do this? Or would the Shadow Hunters be better off with one less noble pureblood family if it meant keeping their power?

"In the end, the decision was unanimous. They made a deal with a demon to kill everyone with Uchiha blood in them and make it appear as though they had been dealing with demons to become even stronger. Demon dealing is a dangerous business," it gave a soft snicker again. "All the Uchihas were killed by me except for two small children of the main branch." Itachi inhaled a sharp breath as it lifted its finger to point at Itachi. "Mikoto Uchiha was a very powerful Mage who used her magic to hide her children from danger. I found every Uchiha. Every man, woman, and child. I could not find her children. I searched until the Shadow Hunters arrived to help. Not even they could find the children. I would bet a thousand years in this prison that Mikoto Uchiha and her husband knew of the Mage Council's betrayal. She kept them from finding you just as she kept me from finding you."

"My brother's alive?" his voice sounded much calmer than he felt.

"Not dead by my hand," was the demon's response, its expression hungry.

Itachi clenched his shaking hands. "Do you still want to kill me?" he asked quietly.

It tilted its head to examine him with its other eye. "The contract between the Mages and myself was broken because I could not complete it," it finally responded after a long silence. "They forced me into this mirror to keep their secret hidden because it was beyond their power to kill me without the Elder Council discovering what they had done. If they did, they would have questioned me and who knows what story I would tell. The Mages kept their power and the Shadow Hunters believed that the death of the Uchiha clan was proof that there cannot be co-existence between Shadow Hunters and the paranormal.

"But you, you are alive," it took a step closer. "An Uchiha remains alive and is sharing his soul with a vampire. The very pinnacle of co-existence. The Elder Council wishes to break your bond, do they not? It is proof that their lifestyle is wrong. Peace is not possible."

"Peace is possible," Itachi corrected.

"Apparently."

Itachi let his eyes fall to the floor, thinking about what he had heard and committing it permanently to his memory forever. His mother was a Mage who wanted to die rather than allow war to continue. He remembered the memory that had resurfaced when he and Deidara had first shared souls. His father had given his mother time to get away, but she had protected Itachi instead of herself. He wondered now if the words she spoke to them every night when she tucked them in was to keep them safe in their beds. Had he broken the spell by getting out of bed? If he had stayed in bed would his mother have been able to protect all of them? Perhaps it was his fault that they had not survived the attack.

"In return for telling you my story," the demon said, snapping him out of his thoughts. It had sauntered closer to the mirror, its face close enough to fog up the glass with condensation. "As payment, I would like you to seek revenge," it cackled quietly. "Avenge your family by exposing the Mage Council and kill them all."

"You don't want me to release you?" he asked.

"I would much rather gloat in the death of the Mage Council."

"I don't want to kill anyone," Itachi told him, shaking his head. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

"Peace loving Uchiha," it grumbled angrily. "These people had your family framed and murdered. Peace will not save you or your vampire. Even peaceful people need to take up arms."

"I am not a Warrior," Itachi responded, taking a calm step away. "Thank you for telling me your story. I will do my best to use the information wisely."

"Foolish boy," was the last echo he heard from the demon as he turned away from the mirror and retraced his steps out of the corridor. On the main floor, he let out a slow exhale. Sasuke… his parents… He needed fresh air. Head down, he walked to the main lobby, wishing he could walk into Deidara's room instead, and passed the two Shadow Hunters guarding the door and out into the fresh air. He needed to think and needed to walk.


	27. Silver Bonds and Portals

Fear was saturated in the air. Suspicion. Anger. The night hid the damages from the untrained senses, but there were only a few here with normal senses. There was damage here. Littered the grounds and hung in the air. This was once a sanctuary. A safe haven for those that needed it. It was now violated. By whom? For what reason? Those questions lingered like death in the air, but their desperation fell off him like the weakness it stank of. He had no reason to be fearful. He had no reason to be suspicious. He had no reason to feel violated. Victimized eyes followed him as the grass turned to gravel and asphalt to marble. They did not challenge him. They knew something great when they saw it. Despite the raping of his place, the owners of those eyes still held on to its past. They returned to pick up the remains of the sanctuary gifted to them. All of them had returned. All who were still alive, at least.

He did not turn to meet the eyes. He did not turn to give them a piteous look. Even he had returned to this place, so what could he express to them if he had the emotions to give? His return was not out of weakness. He was not one to cling to the past for comfort. Nothing had ever comforted him. Rest was not a feature he had been gifted with. Things pleased him, not comforted. Things that did not please him were dealt with. He existed outside of the pettiness of life. He did not care about the violations of others. He didn't not care about their desire to return to the peace and happiness their lives had been before the violation. He did not return because it had been a comfortable place.

He was here for one purpose.

The familiar hallways didn't hold the same life as they once did. It felt like an empty shell, which struck him as odd. The vastness of the labyrinth of corridors had never echoed the solidarity of his footsteps as they did now. It was rare moments like this in which he appreciated just how alive some people were, even in death. Their absence left a hole. He stopped to examine a painting hanging on the wall. The familiar haughty young thing lounging with kingliness on a high back chair. The artist had captured the figure's appearance and expression with accuracy that modern day cameras could not imagine. He stopped to look at it because it pleased him to look at it, but he continued on. He passed other reminders of a distant past, but didn't allow it to catch his ankles.

He was here for one purpose.

He stopped at a door that was closed, its handle latched and the small gears had the lock clicked masterfully into place to give the illusion of privacy to the calmly beating heart on the other side. He could pick the lock, but that would make him look like a petty thief. He was not a thief. He was as welcome in these halls as the poor creatures that had slowly begun to follow him through the house at a safe distance. He wondered if they knew the betrayal that beating heart had caused them. Perhaps they suspected but wouldn't act for fear of retaliation. The owner of that beating heart had been so treasured. He feared no such thing. He had no fear. He had no suspicion. He had anger. A brewing, vengeful anger that he threw at the door. The lock and hinges did not stand a chance against his strength and crumbled uselessly under his hands. Without it's latch, the door fell to pieces on the floor, revealing its insides.

A girl sat on a small velvet sofa with her laptop perched delicately on her knees. She wore a sweat suit as her sleeping clothes and her white hair was pulled off her face. She had turned her head to angrily yell at the intruder, but her face blanched in terror and the retort died in her throat.

He was here for one purpose.

And she knew what it was.

"No, no, no!" she begged, her once precious laptop crashing to the floor in her haste to get away. The trapped creature. "Please! Please, no! Don't hurt me! You don't understand!"

He smiled at her, but it scared her more than reassured her as his smiles often did. He did not know how to smile with feelings as others did. She tried to run from him, but where could she go. He barred the pathway to the door and even if she had escaped, did she think he would not track her to the ends of the earth for what she had done? He stalked her, relishing in her terror. She knew why he was here. She knew his purpose. He did not play with her as he easily held her down, begging for mercy which he did not have. Begging for forgiveness which he would not give. An audience of lost souls came to watch him separate her skin from her body, listen to her scream out her pain and terror until she lost all sense of being and her mind gave up its attachment to life.

Deidara opened his eyes and stared down at the floor that was slick with his blood that had managed to fall from the blades. He wondered what he had just seen. Was Itachi having a nightmare? Sometimes his dreams wandered into Deidara's own awareness, but the barrier was still shut tight. He made sure of it, so what had he seen that had seemed so real? It puzzled him for a moment before familiarity washed over his thoughts.

Sasori.

He exhaled slowly. Sometimes if Sasori was feeling particularly strongly in some way, it filtered to him no matter how strongly he closed his Maker off. He took another inhale and resisted the urge to lick his lips. It made him tremble slightly in sadistic pleasure to feel how angry Sasori was. He wanted to join him in his hunt, but he was miles away and still unable to move. He was certain that it was not a passing fancy of Sasori's. Kit was dead.

That stupid bitch. How dare she betray him like this. He wished he could have been there to kill her himself. Sasori never liked her, though he never gave him a decent reason of why until she had begun to age, and his Maker felt her usefulness had passed. He frowned suddenly, wondering how Sasori had found out what had happened. They hadn't spoken, even mind to mind, since Sasori had departed after Halloween.

The door opened at the far end of the room and Kisame slipped in, more gracefully than expected for his size. Once again, Deidara resisted the urge to lick his lips in anticipation. Had he brought Itachi's blood for him? The brunette said he had given it to him. To feel that thick, metallic life going down his throat, to taste the sweet candy that would coat his tongue. He wanted it so badly. He had been so long without it. He pitied Sasori who would never taste something he felt was as good as this, though Deidara couldn't imagine anything being as good as Itachi. It had been weeks and the thought of tasting it again made him weak-kneed. Sasori hadn't tasted his blood in centuries.

This time, instead of placing the blade down as he had on his first visit, Kisame slid it under Deidara's chin to force his head up. "I brought the bottle," he told him, eyes hard.

"I can smell it on you, un," Deidara replied, and he could.

"They're making plans to transport you soon," Kisame informed him.

Soon. Hm… he supposed he was weak enough. "I imagine they'll have enticing plans for our movements, un," he grinned.

"Yeah, Itachi too," Kisame mutter wiped the grin off Deidara's face. Itachi would just go with them quietly, why would they need special plans for him too? He growled softly, but Kisame gave him a warning poke with his blade. "Do not bite me when I give this to you," he warned.

"I bet you taste bitter anyway," Deidara shot back, watching him uncork the bottle which had resealed itself with its magic and hold it up. Each movement was considered. Each muscle it took to pull the cork off was observed. Was he just going to tangle it in front of him to torture him? He wanted it so badly…

Kisame didn't respond to his comment, but eyed the bottle for a moment, then took a deep breath and finally held it up to tip its contents into Deidara's mouth. As though with any blood, he preferred it hot out of the source, but it didn't matter with Itachi's blood. It rolled over his tongue like water for a man lost in the desert. It took all his willpower not to make a sound the Hunter would have probably thought most inappropriate as he rolled the blood in his mouth. Sticky, thick, and sweet. How he had ever lived before tasting this blood he did not know and he felt it doing it's magic before he had even swallowed. He felt the part of him that held Itachi's soul reach out for the blood that belonged to its old body and throw its magic through his blood stream and nerves to help its new shell. He felt stronger, instantly more alive than he had in weeks. It wasn't a lot, but he could feel the magic of the blades receding, the pain lessening enough that he felt he could keep it from Itachi. Magic didn't bother Itachi and it wouldn't bother Deidara with his blood reinforcing it. He wanted to stick his tongue into the bottle, but Kisame had pulled it away when it was empty, watching him with perverse curiosity. He probably had never been so close to a vampire before without killing it. Swallowing the remaining blood in his mouth, he gave his lips a lick just in case he missed a drop and blinked in a show of exhaustion and let his head fall back down.

"Now Itachi will sleep comfortably," he whispered. He felt so alive and considering he was dead this was quite a feat. He imagined how he would feel if he could pierce skin and gulp mouthfuls of Itachi's blood, but pushed the thought away quickly. Thinking like that would cause him to accidentally drain him one day. He was a Master Vampire. Such glutinous tendencies were below him.

"That's it?" Kisame questioned in disbelief.

"I told you," Deidara muttered, licking his lips again, "our bond is by blood, not magic. I'll make sure that Itachi will be able to rest now, un…Some privacy, if you will."

The man glared at him, but finally backed away to the door once more. Deidara didn't really need him to leave, but he knew his control over his hunger was weak and he had made a promise to Itachi. He watched him reseal the wards that would keep him in the room if he were to escape his current position and gave a soft snort. The fool.

He gave a soft sigh and carefully peeled back the barriers between himself and Itachi and reached out to touch the door that represented his path to him and called out softly.

He felt relief wash over him from Itachi and it filled him as well. He felt warmth on his face, a slight breeze, the smell of food nearby. Itachi must be outside. _'I'm here,'_ came the soft whisper from his Human Servant.

 _'Are you okay? Where are you?'_ Deidara closed his eyes to block out the sunlight falling innocently into the room. It was strange to feel the negative reaction to the sun physically, but a pleasant one mentally.

 _'I'm walking around outside. I just needed some air, so I just started walking around the block. Are you okay? You still seem in pain, but it's not as bad as before.'_

 _'The Hunter gave me the blood, so I'm not in pain from the magic on the blades anymore, un. I'm totally fine, un.'_

 _'No, you're not,'_ was the answer and Deidara frowned a little. Itachi could still feel some of the pain. _'The Shadow Hunters had my family killed.'_

Deidara didn't answer for a moment as he sorted that information out. Sitting in his mind space, he could finally see new pieces of the puzzle Itachi had given to him when he first met him and happily set the pieces into place. What an interesting jigsaw puzzle. _'You spoke to the demon?'_

'Yes… do you want me to tell you the story?' Itachi asked him. His voice was quiet, but it wasn't their connection. It was almost as though he was being mentally gentle with him because he knew he was in pain.

 _'Not now, un. You can tell me while they're moving us. It'll be soon, un.'_

 _'It wants me to take revenge. I don't want to kill anyone, though. I just want to go home…'_

But we can't, was the unspoken thought that passed between them. They both knew that the castle couldn't be the same home it had been before. It had taken Deidara many years to set up the life he had before his capture, and it wouldn't be the same. Not with Kit's betrayal, but perhaps they could make something new.

 _'Deidara… I think… I think my brother is still alive,'_ Itachi murmured after an extended silence.

Deidara sighed heavily. _'I…know,'_ he replied.

He felt Itachi stop walking, felt his sharp inhale. _'You knew?'_ came the betrayed sounding voice.

 _'I wasn't keeping it from you, un,'_ Deidara said hastily, crawling away from the puzzle to put his hands against the divide between them. ' _I was going to surprise you. When I got back, I was going to take you back to Japan to see him as a Christmas present, un.'_ Itachi didn't reply for a few moments and Deidara grew worried, sliding the door a little to slide his hands into the space. His fingers didn't hit the barrier like they did when he stuck his hand into Sasori's door, but he withdrew his fingers, suddenly feeling invasive. _'Are you angry with me?'_ Deidara found himself worried about that for some reason. Why should Itachi be angry? Why should he be worried? Deidara had made someone go through a lot of trouble to dig through records and records to find his brother. Sam was amazing and her capabilities should be praised, not discouraged. Itachi shouldn't feel angry, but somehow, he was still worried he was.

 _'No, I'm not angry,'_ finally came Itachi's reply. _'I'm just surprised… There's been a lot going on and… finding out Sasuke's alive… Thank you for finding him, but I don't want the Shadow Hunters to find him.'_

 _'Definitely not,'_ Deidara agreed. _'They're going to move us soon, un. I'm weak enough now and they know it...'_

 _'I thought my blood would help.'_

 _'It did. If I need to get us out, I think I can, but I'm still not very strong, un … I just wanted to warn you because they probably won't tell you. They'll be taking precautions that I don't try to feed on anyone, un,'_ he told him, mentally pressing up against the door between them. He wanted to be closer to him again, but after keeping him out for so long, it was relaxing to be able to speak to him like this again. He smiled physically when he felt Itachi pressing back affectionately. Itachi had missed him too.

' _I thought they might. I heard them talking about something, but I didn't hear what they said,'_ Itachi replied. Silence followed as Itachi reached through their barrier and took his hand, replaying the scene in his mind so that Deidara could see it as well.

 _'I don't understand that Hunter, un…'_

 _'Kisame?'_

 _'I don't get his motivation,'_ Deidara continued. _'He's helping you, un… it doesn't seem right. It's suspicious, yeah? I know he wants you to be his partner, but I wonder what he's up to…'_

 _'I think he's nice,'_ Itachi murmured. _'He saved Rose and the pups when the Shadow Hunters attacked. He said … why do anything if it isn't fun.'_

 _'I think he's simple-minded. Not… not like he's an idiot, un. I don't think he wants anything really…'_

 _'Kind of like you,'_ Itachi commented with a smile in his voice.

 _'I am not simple-minded,'_ Deidara protested loudly.

 _'I meant the not wanting to be bored part, the why-do-anything-if-it-isn't-fun, part,'_ Itachi said unapologetically. _'I have already informed him that I don't have any intentions of becoming his partner.'_

"I wouldn't let you go anyway, un," Deidara grinned as he spoke aloud, eyeing the door that led deeper into the compound. Let them try to take Itachi from him. He'd tear them all to pieces.

 _'Are you upset that I came?'_ Itachi asked softly. Deidara felt him moving again. He had turned back to return to the building; he could feel him coming closer.

 _'I wish you hadn't,'_ he answered honestly. _'I wish you were back with the others and safe, but I'm glad to see you, un.'_

 _'Don't block me out again…'_

 _'I won't. I promise.'_

 _'You promised before. Don't lie to me.'_

Deidara grumbled unhappily. It wasn't his fault. Itachi felt his pain, too. 'I think Sasori-danna killed Kit, un,' he said to change the subject.

 _'I thought he might,'_ was Itachi's soft response. He couldn't tell if Itachi was upset or pleased about it; he assumed upset because Itachi was a much kinder person than anyone else he knew. _'When I was on my way, I spoke to him – or … he spoke to me because he felt me looking for him in my head. I didn't know who else to turn to.'_

 _'Ohh… You're so clever,'_ the vampire crooned affectionately.

 _'I don't think he'll help us. He just wanted to know what happened to you, and he was really excited to be allowed to eat Kit.'_

Deidara hummed softly and looked up as the inner door opened again. A large number of Hunters walked in, the Mage and Scholar pair with them. The leader appeared grim, but his partner had a faintly sadistic look in her eyes. Whatever plan they had come up with to move him had been her idea, the blond determined. _'It's starting. They're preparing to move us. Come back quickly, but don't try to come into the Death Room, un.'_

 _'Death Room?'_ choked Itachi.

 _'That's what they call it, un. See you soon.'_

"Show time?" the blond asked, letting a smirk spread across his face.

"We will be transporting you this afternoon," the leader said in a calm, authoritative voice.

Deidara scanned the Hunters, resting his gaze on each of their faces; he enjoyed the way a few of them tensed up when he came to them. These were all trained Hunters, ones that specialized in trapping and killing powerful creatures such as himself, and yet they were scared of them. He shivered with the pleasure of it. "Your partner," he murmured to the man, finishing his gazing of the Mage standing next to him, "is sadistic, un."

"You will need to be restrained while in transport," the Hunter continued, ignoring the vampire's remark against his partner. "This is a necessity as a protection for my men and Itachi's safety as well."

"Just the men?" Deidara questioned.

The Mage scowled, but Deidara could have sworn the leader's eyes gave a slight twitch of amusement. Itachi had seemed to like this Hunter as much as he could in the circumstance, and Deidara could see why. He had no sadistic tendencies and any violence he put forth was calculated to be only what was necessary. The Scholar didn't reply to him as his female partner approached him. She had a small bag in her hand that reeked of magic, not like Chloe's magic, or the aggressive protectiveness of the magic of the blades. This magic was as dark and angry as her eyes; Deidara wondered if she was naturally malicious or if he had done something to cause her to hate him. Eyes on her, he heard the blades being unsheathed behind her and felt the air change as they were pointed at him. Whatever she had planned was going to be unpleasant.

"Bite me and you lose your head," she threatened as she knelt down.

"Don't knock it to you try it, un," he smirked at her.

Out of the bag she pulled a white needle and a spool of silver threat; Deidara always found it funny how the humans' idea of evil magic was dark and dirty, but he had always found it to be pale and pearly. "I doubt it," she said in a nasty voice. "How's this? If you try to prevent me from doing this, I will be sure to do it to Itachi instead." Deidara growled at her, the closest blade responding by pressing against the side of his neck warningly. She was malicious, this Mage, but kept it off of her facial expression. Her eyes gave her away. They glinted as she threaded the needled and gripped his jaw to begin stitching his lips together. The magic coating the threat and needle was strong enough to pierce his skin and keep it from healing. She went across and back a few times and he was silently grateful for Kisame's stupidity. This would have been far more painful without that little bit of Itachi's blood. He felt his human worrying about him – he probably felt it too, but, like himself, was spared much of the pain by his blood. He let his eyes become steely and hard, letting her think that he was weak enough to be hindered by this. He supposed he could potentially tear free, but the magic on the thread would make the wound heal much slower.

 _'Are you okay?'_ Itachi's voice distracted him from the mental image of himself tearing them all to tiny pieces with floppy shredded lips.

 _'Yes,'_ he replied, surprised by the anger in Itachi's voice. _'Are you back inside yet? Where are you?'_

 _'I'm here,'_ Itachi murmured and Deidara cringed as the door to the room opened and his human walked in. Deidara frowned, irritated that Itachi had come in even though he told him not to, but Itachi was ignoring his mental grumbling.

"Is that really necessary?" Itachi demanded, the startled Hunters who hadn't heard him enter the room.

"Yes, Itachi," the leader said to him, stepping forward. "It is for your protection as well. Deidara has not fed in quite some time. His control will be weaker and he could harm you as well."

"Deidara wouldn't hurt me," Itachi informed him so confidently that Deidara had to resist the urge to grin. The Hunter started to say something, but Itachi interrupted him, "I'd like to be restrained as well."

"I don't think that is necessary," the man said, the others casting glances at one another behind his back.

Itachi shook his head. "Vivitsu, you wouldn't let me near him for weeks," he stated, staring the leader down. He picked that up from the werewolf packs, Deidara noted, wondering slightly at him. He was impressed and also worried that seeing himself like this pushed Itachi over the edge. His human's expression was calm, but Deidara felt how angry he was. He didn't want Itachi's gentleness tainted and mentally nudged him, but Itachi only sent assurance back. "You said it was because you didn't want to risk me freeing Deidara. With both of us restrained in transit, that won't happen."

A few Hunters muttered snarky comments, but the leader, Vivitsu Itachi had called him, silenced them all with a glance. He wondered how such a gentle person could hold such command of his men. "As you wish, Itachi."

 _'What the hell are you doing?'_ Deidara demanded angrily, shifting for the first time in weeks and felt the Hunters warning blades on him. ' _If you let them sew you up, I will kill them all right now, un!'_

"Just not with magic," Itachi told the Hunter, glancing passed him at Deidara. "I don't think he'll let you."

"I would not allow that," Vivitsu assured him with a nod. "Kisame will handle your personal things; he is coming with us."

Itachi's hands were zipped tied in front of him, Deidara now watching vindictively to ensure that he wasn't harmed while the Hunters began the process of removing the blades to restrain Deidara's hands as well, though behind his back. When the blades were slid out, the both winced at the same time, but he didn't think anyone but Kisame noticed. They were led through the building – Itachi mentally reassuring him that he was unharmed – and outside into the snowy afternoon of the streets of Beijing. Wearing only his coat, Itachi shivered a little, but didn't give any indication that it was too cold. Despite the sun glaring against his eyes, Deidara continued to watch him like a hawk and by the warning attention he was getting, the Hunters thought it was out of hunger. That was fine with him. The more then underestimated his strength, the better. Awkwardly, they climbed into a large white van with three benches of seats behind the two front seats and were instructed to sit in the very middle of them and not to move as ten of the Hunters filed in with them, the rest getting into another van.

He watched Itachi shift to get comfortable and made an audible unhappy noise at him. The brunette looked down at him and gave him a small smile. _'I wanted to be near you,'_ he explained. _'They wouldn't let me otherwise.'_

 _'We should just leave, un,'_ the blond muttered, glaring at the Hunters around them as the van started. He wondered as he noted the van behind them, wondering if all thirty – thirty-one with Kisame – come? He couldn't tell from his position.

 _'We can't. They will track us down,'_ Itachi replied, relaxing with his right arm pressed against Deidara's. Dirty. Deidara relaxed a little, happy to feel his warmth. _'It's better this way.'_

 _'What way?'_ Deidara questioned with a frown. Itachi didn't answer, but became deep in thought, too cluttered for the blond to pick anything up. Did Itachi have an escape plan? He stared at his human as if it would he would be able to read the thoughts on his face. Nothing. Still, he stared and stared to his heart's content because he could and there was no one to stop him. He missed him very much. The stress of the event was beginning to affect him though. He looked very tired, but was watching and listening to everything around him. Sliding sideways, Deidara rest his chin on Itachi's shoulder and continued to watch him, suddenly understanding why Itachi had allowed them to tie him up as well. They hadn't been together in over a month; he just wanted to be close to him again and that was the only way.' _You need sleep,'_ he whispered quietly to him, not wanting to disturb his thinking, but wanted him to know he was concerned too.

A Hunter behind them pressed a gun against his temple, possibly warning him not to try and feed on Itachi. They knew this stitch job wasn't foolproof. He could tear through them if he wanted. "He's fine," Itachi said, turning his head to glare back at the man who looked startled and a little sheepish. Deidara saw him glance at the Leader next to him who nodded for him to sit back.

 _'I'm fine,'_ he murmured back, smiling a little as Deidara sighed audibly in irritation. _'Really. I'm much more relaxed now that you stopped blocking me out and you're here.'_

 _'I can get us out, un,'_ he urged. _'I know where to go where they won't find us, un.'_

 _'No,'_ Itachi replied firmly. _'I don't want to spend the rest of our lives hiding from Hunters. If this doesn't work out, I guess you can do that.'_

 _'Are you going to tell me what your brilliant plan is, un?'_

"Are you two speaking to each other mind-to-mind?" The two of them startled a little and glance behind them again. Vivitsu was leaning forward a little with open intrigue on his face. "You are…" he murmured when Itachi didn't answer him. "I thought he had blocked you out, Itachi."

"He did, but he stopped after the blades came out," Itachi lied smoothly and rubbed his lip together. "The string doesn't hurt as much as the blades did and I made him lift it because I can handle this." The vampire's shoulders shook slightly as he snickered, forcing his mouth to be still. Itachi's agitation on his behalf was adorably priceless.

"They shouldn't be speaking," Sophia glowered.

"He's just asking how I got here," Itachi stated, his agitation rising even more. Deidara wasn't sure he had ever met someone Itachi openly disliked before.

"We talked about the mind spaces before," Vivitsu continued, ignoring his partner. "Can your vamp—"

"Deidara."

The man smiled obligingly. "Can Deidara speak mind-to-mind with his Maker as well?" he finished.

Deidara made a face, half wondering how much Itachi had decided to tell the Hunter and cringing at the thought of asking Sasori for help. "Do you know Deidara's Maker?" Itachi asked instead.

"I do not."

"He's another Child Vampire," Itachi told him. The man thought for a moment, then his eyebrows raised his eyebrows slightly. "We'd prefer to spend as little time with him as possible."

"Sasori Akasuna is your Maker?" Vivitsu asked in surprise.

Deidara gave a shrugging gesture as if to say it was something that couldn't be helped. He supposed being the vampiric offspring of an ancient psychopathic Child Vampire had some notoriety.

"We don't invite him," Itachi commented. "He just shows up when he's bored. Where are we going?"

Vivitsu made a soft thinking noise than leaned back. "We'll be driving for twenty more minutes, then we'll be slipping through a small portal, and then stay the night and take another portal when the sun rises to The City."

"A portal…" Itachi murmured, looking down at Deidara.

 _'It's like the video game, I guess, un.'_

 _'I don't play video games.'_

"It is a small rift in time and space that allows great distances to be crossed by Shadow Hunters in a single step, but there are only a few places in the world that have the ability to hold and maintain such magic," Vivitsu explained. "And they aren't able to cover complete distances, so we'll be traveling to Japan first."

"Japan…" Itachi murmured, barely audible except to Deidara who turned his eyes up to look at him and rest his chin back on his shoulder. The blond felt Itachi's muscles under his chin clench his fingers together in anticipation. Home, but not home was what he was thinking. Would it still be a homecoming for his human? Red eyes glanced down to meet his own blue ones as if seeking an answer from him, but Deidara didn't know what to tell him, and only could rub his cheek against his shoulder to comfort him. Home was in Germany where his friends lived, but home was also in Japan where his family had died, and he was alone. His poor human.

 _'Tell him to stop staring at us, un.'_

Itachi frowned then looked back at the last row of Hunters. "He wants you to stop staring at us," he said softly.

"My apologies," Vivitsu said to them, once again sitting back in his seat. "It's just rather fascinating to watch you two. I've never met a Human Servant before."

"Silluetu."

"Sorry?"

"I … I read in a book that they used to be called Silluetu, which means Soul Sharer. I like that name better than 'Human Servant'," Itachi said, hesitating only a moment. He must have learned the word from the demon, Deidara mused.

"I see."

"I don't see what you could possibly find interesting," the woman muttered under her breath. What was her name. Itachi's voice murmured the answer back to him, but Deidara decided he didn't care enough to remember it.

"Sophia," Vivitsu murmured quietly as if he was calming her, but Deidara gave her a long stare that did quite the opposite. "It is interesting. I have never seen a vampire act like Deidara. And certainly not when the sun is so high. Nor two people sharing souls. I've heard of the … Silluetu? The soul sharers, but they're so few and rare I've never met one. I assume Deidara is more active because you can be active in the day time? Just as you shared his pain, I'm sure there are benefits to both of you as well as disadvantages. Are they all similar to you two?"

"They're all pathetic humans seeking immortality," Sophia stated. "I've heard of them plenty from my mentor. She even made a book to keep track of them."

"Really?" Vivitsu asked her in surprise as Itachi looked quickly at Deidara who gave the barest shake of his head, warning him not to comment.

"It was stolen a long time ago… but they're dangerous to humans and the fact that you're interested in the fact that there is now a blood traitor letting a vampire suck on his neck every—"

"Very few vampires are ones who feed on humans gluttonously," Itachi interrupted with Deidara nodding in agreement. No wonder this Hunter was such a bitch. She'd been trained by an asshole. "All the vampires that lived on the grounds of Deidara's castle had human companions and Deidara had humans other than me as well. They worked, they had good lives. When the Shadow Hunters broke in, they killed at least two vampires and some of their humans while the wolves tried to defend the grounds. The humans were just trying to protect them."

"That was not my group," Vivitsu said, almost shamefully. This one followed orders carefully, not terrible, but a stupid puppet.

Itachi was quiet for a moment, then asked in a quiet voice, "do you know who died in Germany?"

Deidara sat up suddenly and turned his head to stare intently at the Hunter. He wondered if Itachi had had the same thought the same time he did because it had just crossed his mind, but he hadn't shared it with Itachi. Perhaps having spent so much time with the barrier between them up it was taking time to settle. His movements didn't please the Hunters; a few blades and a gun were held up to him, but Vivitsu told them to put them away.

"I don't know," Vivitsu said softly. "I know that, like you said, there were two vampires and a few of their humans. Three Shadow Hunters were gravely injured by the werewolves and I think that one werewolf was killed."

"Who?" Itachi asked, trying to conceal the fear Deidara heard in his rapid heartbeat.

"I wasn't told any names, I am sorry," Vivitsu said, his eyes gentle.

Itachi shared a silent glance at Deidara, then returned to staring out the window with a soft sigh. Deidara gave his shoulder an affectionate nudge and leaned against him sideways as they drove, ignoring the stares and sideways glances that ranged from curiosity to disgust. He didn't care about them. He had Itachi again and his warmth and presence were welcoming. He wondered who had died of his vampires and who of the werewolves. Such a loss to the pack.

"Taking a portal is quite simple, but it will feel a little odd on your first trip," Vivitsu began suddenly, several silent minutes later. "It's a small hole in reality, so to speak. You will have a little nausea that is similar to jet lag, but it will hit you all at once. We're not going very far considering, but I just want to warn you."

Itachi nodded and looked down at Deidara, who remained silent. Itachi hated what they had done to his mouth, Deidara could smell the anger on him, but his face remained calm. Itachi was always very good at appearing calm. Most people would be panicking, but Itachi shut down those reactions to be able to think. He started to smile, but stopped because of the tugging of the threads. When he had first taken him to Rom, he had been the same way. He hadn't been able to see him walk through the halls, but Deidara bet Itachi could tell him every pathway through the building they had just left. His human was extremely smart. He had to get him out of this.

The vans stopped and parked in a lot near a busy train station and they were made to get out, an allergy mask was slipped over Deidara's face to hide it from any human eyes. They walked a short distance to a staircase descending into the station. The station was large, but there was a lull in the afternoon foot traffic and no one gave them a second glance. The sun beat on his skin painfully, even when they were undercover, but a Hunter and Kisame held his arms to help him walk and to keep him from bolting – though where would he go without Itachi? Itachi's thoughts slipped into his own, counting the Hunters, seeing who was there and who was missing as they slipped out of the main station and down into a maintenance tunnel. There had been thirty Shadow Hunters back in the building, plus Kisame. Fourteen pairs. Three Linkless. He didn't know which of the Hunters in Vivitsu's group were Linkless. Twenty-five here. Two pairs and one Linkless missing. Five to stay and guard the compound.

One of the male Mages lit a bauble and hand it to Vivitsu who fell into pace with Itachi. Kisame moved his arm slightly so that he was supporting Deidara off the ground so that he didn't have to walk. Deidara was a little grateful because he was slowly reaching his movement limit. "Itachi," the leader spoke as they walked, "would you like to know something?"

What a stupid question. Itachi always wanted to know something. "What is it?" his human asked.

"Portals can't be made just anywhere," Vivitsu began, his voice soft and barely echoing in the tunnel. "Crossroads are a neutral area historically. They weren't owned by anyone – a no-man's land so to speak. This meant they were very good places to perform great amounts of magic, and also to summon demons for deals. A crossroad is also considered a portal between worlds in historic records, which means that it is the best place to create a portal. It is magic that can't be made anywhere else so there is no danger of the magic leaking out of the portal."

"I see…" Itachi murmured, pausing to look at Deidara. He liked learned new things, but his happiness faded when he noticed how close to his limit he was. "Let him ride on my back," he said to Vivitsu. "He won't hurt me and the sun up… he can't move anymore."

Several of the Hunters gave their leader looks of disapproval as he considered his question and nodded. "If he shows any indication of biting you, we will kill him," Vivitsu told him.

Itachi knelt down so Deidara could climb happily onto his back, hanging on with his chin and legs. Unable to help himself, he rubbed his hips suggestively against him until the brunette told him verbally to stop. "So the portal is at a crossroad down here?" Itachi asked.

"Yes," Vivitsu replied as they began walking again. "It is a crossroad of trains and also the road above. We step through it and come out –"

"In Shibuya?" Itachi guessed.

Vivitsu stopped and looked at him in surprise. "How did you know?"

"It's the biggest crossroad in Japan," Itachi replied. "With the trains, the subway and the pedestrians above. It seems like the most likely choice."

Vivitsu nodded. "Good deduction," he praised.

 _'You're so smart. It's really sexy, un,'_ Deidara crooned.

"What's wrong?" Kisame asked when Itachi blushed furiously and sputtered a little.

"Nothing," Itachi mumbled, while Deidara snickered in his head, murmuring in his mind praises the brunette who tried and failed to keep them out.

"Here," Vivitsu said finally as they stopped in front of a large opening where nine different tire tracks crossed over one another. Two women were seated on the far side of the open space, wrapped in thick coats and one held a staff in her hand. They stood together when the group approached and nodded to Vivitsu. Deidara murmured in his mind that they were Hunters too and Itachi only nodded in response.

Itachi couldn't hear what Vivitsu was saying to the two Hunters, but Deidara could and repeated them to him when Itachi glanced sideways at him. Vivitsu knew the two partner guards of the portal. They were asking about Itachi and Deidara. Vivitsu told them the Elder Council wanted to speak to them. He was showing them the summons.

"Thank you," the smaller of the two women said loud enough for the others to hear.

 _'She said thank you.'_

"Please line up with your partner," Vivitsu began. "We will be entering two at a time."

 _'He wants them to line up with partners, un.'_

 _'I can hear him.'_

"Sophia and I will pass through first, then Kisame will pass through with Itachi and Deidara."

 _'Bitch and him, then us, un.'_

 _'Deidara, I can hear them.'_

"Then continue in twos."

 _'Then in twos, un.'_

 _'Yes, Deidara, I heard.'_

"Itachi, do you understand? Will you be alright?"

 _'He wants to know if—'_

"Yes, I'll be fine. Deidara, shut up," the brunette grumbled, startling the two closest Hunters who looked confused since Deidara had been silent. Kisame looked highly amused, but Deidara ignored them as Itachi moved to stand behind the leading Hunter pair. He was hiding it well, but he could feel Itachi's nervousness and gave him a gentle squeeze of assurance. Not that he knew much about portals, or had ever taken one himself. He didn't know what it would be like.

The portal was not very easy to see, even with his own vampire eyes, though that may be because he wasn't use to looking for Hunter magic. The only indicators were tiny vine like scrawling that formed an irregular circle inside of a thirteen-pointed star. Like much of the train station, it gave the appearance of having been there since the dawn of time and Deidara wondered how old this portal was. He wondered if portals had a life limit and also wondered why they didn't blindfold him when they brought him down here. It would have been useless – he would be able to smell his way back to this place if he wanted, but as Kisame grabbed onto both his and Itachi's arms, Deidara guessed that only those accompanied by a Hunter could pass through. Itachi, perhaps, wouldn't be recognized by the magic of the portal because of their connection.

As they stepped through after Vivitsu and Sophia, he felt an icy unpleasant sensation similar to jumping through a thin sheet of ice above a vat of putty. He felt unwanted. This portal knew what he was, and his theory was correct. It tried to push him backwards and out of the portal, the magic wanting to expel him, but Kisame's grip was tight and he and Itachi were dragged through. It felt like being pulled through thick mud that compressed his lungs. He felt Itachi beginning to panic about being unable to breath, but then they exited the portal and stepped into the inner train workings of Tokyo's Shibuya station.


	28. The Elder Council

Deidara quickly hopped off Itachi's back, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears as Itachi was hit by a wave of nausea and lost his balance. Kisame and Vivitsu both helped him move away from a portal and the feet tripping tracks and let him empty his stomach closer to the dirty wall. The partner guard on this side of the portal both pulled their weapons on him to prevent him from getting away, but where would he run to, tied with silver without his Human? Hunters were stupid and paranoid sometimes. He watched them assuring Itachi that it got better each time, but the expression on Itachi's face concurred with Deidara's thoughts. Neither of them wanted to go through another portal ever again.

"I'm alright," Itachi murmured to them, but it was mostly for Deidara's benefit. "Just nauseous." He muttered an embarrassed thank you to Vivitsu who gave him a small sip of water from a bottle produced from his bag before helping him to stand upright again. He shifted a little uncomfortably, breathing deeply through his mouth to recover from the wave of sickness the portal next him.

When they were all through the portal, Kisame smirked at Deidara who looked confused until the Hunter swung him up onto his back as easily as if he were an empty backpack. Unable to use his mouth, he made a loud protesting noise that drew Itachi's attention. His human started to protest, but Kisame gave a shake of his head. "Not till you're not going to fall over," he said as the group began walked into the main hallways of Shibuya station towards the exits, not through the main hallways, but out a maintenance entrances. Yet even from here, the sounds of the male voice could be heard speaking through the intercoms announcing the station to the Yamanote sen passengers.

"渋谷…渋谷…ご乗車ありがとうございます."

Itachi stopped so suddenly that Kisame ran into him. Deidara looked down at the back of Itachi's head feeling a rise of guilt. It had been a very long time since he had heard something so familiar as the background noise of the train announcements. He had spent his whole life traveling on the trains – going to and from school, transferring to foster homes, running errands – Itachi barely heard the announcers voice, but until now, Deidara could tell he hadn't noticed that he missed the familiarity.

After a gentle nudge from Kisame, Itachi began walking again, but he glanced back to give Deidara a small smile that didn't make the nagging guilt go away.

 _'This isn't how I wanted you to come back, un…'_ he muttered unhappily to him. Itachi's smile became a little more sincere. He was happy to be here, even if it was with the Hunters and he wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Deidara silently grumbled as his plans for bringing Itachi here around Christmas crumbled into dust. If they got out of this mess, maybe they still could.

Out into natural light, though heavily shaded by the towering buildings, they moved quickly to the street where the two of them were put into a new set of fans that drove them through the streets. This time, Itachi was staring out the window intently, drinking in everything he was seeing. He hid his excitement well the Hunters, but he couldn't hide it from Deidara and was a little embarrassed about it, but he couldn't help it. Deidara gave a sigh and leaned against Itachi's shoulder, both in apology and also to find relief from the sun, enjoying Itachi's joy. The familiarity was a wonderful rest for his human's mind that had been working so hard to function in two new languages in addition to all the stress he had been under. His excitement was quickly replaced by curiosity when they pulled up in front of the stairs to an old shrine built on a hill.

There were a thousand questions running through Itachi's mind, but he didn't want to give Vivitsu the pleasure of answering them. He had expected the Shadow Hunters to do something to keep Deidara at bay while they traveled, but the way it was actually carried out was cruel and inhumane. He knew Deidara's mouth would heal, but Itachi didn't think it was even that effective of a barrier except to make the vampire think twice about attempting to feed on any of them. Still, he was not pleased that Vivitsu had let his partner do what she had done. Forcing them to move in the sunlight, he could understand, but this? No. So he wasn't going to give Vivitsu the satisfaction of conversation he knew the man enjoyed as well.

As they began climbing the stairs, he could tell without looking around that Kisame was only just behind him with Deidara slung over his back again, silent on his end. Itachi couldn't tell if he was staring because he was hungry or if he was being protective. There were a few Shadow Hunters waiting at the top of the stairs in front of the main shrine. They spoke quietly to Vivitsu, their eyes trailing over to stare at Deidara and himself, but welcomed into the building.

"You look so cute all excited cause they're speaking Japanese, un," Deidara mumbled aloud as well as he could while barely moving his mouth. Itachi had a feeling he said it aloud on purpose to embarrass him in front of Kisame who started to snicker quietly.

"Stop trying to talk, Deidara," Itachi muttered, feeling his face heat up.

A Shadow Hunter gave him a sharp prod in the back, telling him to be quiet. Deidara growled angrily at the woman, but Kisame turned so his body was between himself and the offending Shadow Hunter. "Leave them alone," the tall man said to her.

"They shouldn't be talking," she insisted.

"You not wanting them talking isn't going to stop them," was Kisame's response, tapping his finger to his temple as Deidara gave her the best sneer he could manage over Kisame's shoulder.

"We'll be staying here overnight," Vivitsu was saying to the group. "There are plenty of rooms in the main house, but please remain with your partner. The vampire will be placed within the confines of the building until it is time to move again. Itachi will remain with Kisame for the night." Kisame gave a nod to understand the orders, but Itachi frowned. He didn't want special treatment, but couldn't argue into getting what he wanted if he was going to be a prisoner.

"Deidara," he said instead, turning to face the blond. "Could you please…"

 _'Yeah, yeah. I'll be good, un,'_ came the murmur in his head, though his blue eyes rolled in his head.

"Please don't hold him with the spears again," Itachi said quietly. "He says he'll wait patiently and not harm anyone."

"Bullshit," Sophia scoffed, snapping a glare at her partner.

"He will," Itachi insisted, staring intently at Vivitsu. "Please don't hurt him anymore. He said he'll wait."

 _'As long as you're not hurt either, un.'_

"As long as I'm also not hurt," Itachi added, looking over at Deidara.

Vivitsu shared a look with his partner, who seemed to be silently arguing her case, but the man gave a soft exhale and turned back to Itachi. "I will speak to the Shadow Hunters in charge of this compound," he told him, "but I can't guarantee they will agree."

"Please follow us," the guards said to the group in English, bowing politely and leading the way into the main building. Itachi soaked in all of the interior. The dark wood, the glass outer doors that protected the inner paper doors from the cold weather – winter hadn't quite reached Tokyo yet. He tried to remember the path they took through the house, but he kept getting distracted by the Shadow Hunters around him, nudging him into the correct direction and muttering at Deidara to stop growling at them. At a point where the house branched, Kisame turned down a path with the blond and Itachi was led to another. Itachi glanced over his shoulder at Deidara who was doing the same until Kisame turned a corner and he was out of sight.

"This is the holding room where you will stay," Vivitsu told him, gesturing into an open door. "Kisame will be staying with you after Deidara is secured."

Did they really see him as that little of a threat? That he would only get one guard while Deidara would most likely be under heavy lock and key again. He supposed they did – though Kisame wasn't exactly a pushover. It was still frustrating that he wouldn't be contained as Deidara was. He didn't respond to Vivitsu, but turned into six tatami mat room. Vivitsu gave him a slight smile before he ordered two Shadow Hunters to guard him until Kisame's return and they did so with the most uncomfortable intensity that Itachi silently wandered as far away from them as he could to sit patiently and think.

 _'Deidara?'_ he called silently. He felt the blond there, as well as an invitation, so he settled back against the wall and closed his eyes. Drifting into his mind, he reached for the door and passage out of it and stepped into the dim chaos of Deidara's mind space. He looked around with a slight frown. Somehow it seemed darker than the last time he had visited. The extensive clutter that had built up over the years was still piled around him, creating a small jungle for him to climb around to find the blond. He paused at the top of a particularly large pile of junk and looked around to take it all in. It was darker than before, but he wondered if it wasn't from lack of light, but the grimy sludge that had spread over various areas. It moved away from him whenever he drew close and he found himself distracted in wonder of what it was. Deidara had told him it had always been there, but that didn't explain what exactly it was, or rather, what it represented in Deidara's mind. He looked back at the path he had made, which was clearly indicated by the retreating of the sludge which couldn't and wouldn't come near him. He was distracted from pondering it longer by the vampire's voice calling him, so he ignored the darkness and followed his voice.

"There you are," Deidara grinned at him, sitting on a pile of cushions with a large mirror in his hands.

Itachi joined him to lounge on the cushions before answering. "There's a lot of things to get around in here," he said, half joking, half scolding.

"I like it," Deidara stated, resting his elbow on Itachi's shoulder dramatically.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the mirror.

It was held up for him to look at. A mirror whose glass didn't hold their reflection. Instead he saw a room in the glass, similar to the one his body was currently sitting in, but the walls of this one was painted with a black ink shaped in symbols that looked similar to Japanese, but slightly different which caused them to be completely unreadable. "You have a window," Deidara explained, watching Shadow Hunters move in and out of the mirror's edges, "I have a mirror, un."

A familiar figure passed into their line of vision. "I don't get him," the vampire mused aloud.

"Kisame?"

"I can't tell if he has a hidden agenda, or if he just wants a little chaos, un," he responded.

"Are they hurting you?" Itachi quietly questioned.

"No… I think the symbols are supposed to be keeping me inside, un."

That was a relief. Itachi sighed as the weight of worry lifted slightly from his chest. He watched Deidara watching the mirror, unable to hear his thoughts because it wasn't the shared space between them. This was Deidara's mind; he was only a visitor. He remembered how irritated Sasori had looked when he discovered that Itachi had been invited inside here when he had been forcibly kept out and smiled. He tried to reach out and touch the blond strands spilling over his shoulders and was disappointed that he could barely feel them. In fact, he barely felt Deidara leaning against him. They couldn't be completely close to one another here.

"Soon," Deidara murmured, sensing his frustrations.

Itachi inhaled deeply. "I'm disappointed," Itachi said suddenly, deciding to voice something that had been bothering me. "I thought Sasori would come…"

"You'll get used to it, un," the blond told him, though it wasn't very assuring. "Sasori-danna doesn't do anything unless he feels like it or can get something out of it. We don't need him. We have me."

The brunette tried not to look unconvinced as the blond snickered, then paused to listen. "Kisame is coming to you, un," he told him. "You'd better go back."

"I think we need a vacation after this," Itachi commented as he stood.

"But I planned this one so well, un!"

Itachi laughed softly as he slipped back into his own mind, stepping into the library of disorganized books and stared out the fake window. He wondered why Deidara's was a mirror, but pushed the thought to the side as he slipped into his physical awareness. The Shadow Hunters charged with watching him were still staring at him, but they looked a little confused because of how still he was. Sure enough, Kisame entered a few moments later, which made him think Deidara may not be as far away as he originally thought.

"No spears," Kisame said brightly and it took him a moment to realize he meant Deidara. "But he is in a room that's sealed with wards, so if you can't hear him in your head, that's why."

Itachi remained silent, relaying these things to Deidara whose cackle echoed in his head. Apparently, the Shadow Hunters couldn't stop vampire and their silluetu's communication. "How long are we staying here?" he asked, watching Kisame come closer to him after dismissing the Shadow Hunters and closing the door.

"Mm, probably until tomorrow when the sun comes up," Kisame said as he cut the binds on his wrists. "They'll want the sun up again to move your vampire."

Itachi rubbed his wrists in silence, but frowned. Was Deidara still tied up? It didn't seem fair that he wasn't tied up as well. The Shadow Hunters were just humoring his bitter determination to be a prisoner as well. "So we wait," he said quietly.

"Yep."

"Can I ask you something?" Itachi murmured softly.

"Sure."

"Why do you need a room that blocks psychic abilities? Are Shadow Hunters psychic?"

Kisame looked mildly surprised and gave a half nod. "Sort of," he replied. "Some partners can have abilities that are like psychic abilities. But there are some creatures that get held here that can have psychic abilities too. Me, I'm not so good at that sort of thing, but, hey, you heard me once, right? When I first saw you in that store."

Itachi gave a small nod, remembering how he had heard him murmuring his name. "Can you hear mine?"

"Nope. I think what you have going on with your vampire makes it impossible," suggested the Shadow Hunter. "I tried a few times on the train. Didn't work, but I couldn't tell if it was that or cause I just suck at it. I've never been good at anything other than the fighting stuff. I'm pretty awesome at that. Anyway, if a pair of Shadow Hunters needs to be held for any reason, they're separated and put in the rooms with the wards to keep them from communicating in anyway."

"I see," he murmured, fingering a thread on his pants. He heaved a sigh and leaned back against the wall. So they would wait. He didn't think he would sleep well tonight, silently telling Deidara, who grumbled in his fussy way.

"You can still hear him, can't you," Kisame's whisper was barely audible.

"What? No," Itachi startled.

The man gave him a smirk and shook his head. "You're such a bad liar. You get this far away look on your face when you're talking to him," he said, still whispering as he glanced at the door. "Don't worry, I won't tell. Probably for the best anyway, so he doesn't think we're torturing you or something."

"Why won't you?"

"Doesn't seem important."

"No, I want to know," Itachi turned to face him, giving him a serious expression that seemed to amuse Kisame. "Why have you helped us?"

"I'm bored," Kisame replied after several patient minutes of silence.

"Bored?"

"Yep," he shrugged. "That simple. Nothing exciting goes on anymore."

Itachi didn't understand the logic in that and he found himself not entirely believing him. He relayed his response, but Deidara seemed to find the answer acceptable. Perhaps it only made sense to Deidara because he also was entirely driven by his own entertainment, while Itachi's actions were as logical as he could.

"Try to sleep, alright?" Kisame interrupted his thoughts. "There's bedding in that closet over there."

"Why am I not in a secured room?" Itachi demanded placidly as he obeyed and pulled out the folded futon.

A devilish smirk nearly cracked Kisame's face into two halves. It wasn't as manic as Deidara's, but it was certain close. "You think you could get passed me?" he questioned.

"Probably not, Itachi responded quietly as he laid down on the futon and drew the blanket up to his chin. He was agitated, and his lips ached from the shared pain with Deidara. He told Deidara that the demon had swept through his family's compound, killing everyone. How his mother had saved him at the cost of her life and the magic that kept her children safe from anything that might harm them. He didn't tell him about the Mage Council's betrayal, something holding him back. Deidara was clever, but their planning didn't always coincide with one another and he knew that he wouldn't get another chance to bring that truth to life. Deidara apologized again for not telling him about his brother, but he smiled a little and rolled over, wondering what his brother was like.

 _'Deidara?'_

 _'Hm?'_

 _'Why does Sasori have a Japanese name?'_

 _'Akasuna Sasori?'_ Deidara asked softly. ' _It's actually a title. He's had a variety of 'red sand' or 'bloody sand' in different languages since I've known him. I think he came up with it himself, un,'_ he added in a way that Itachi knew he was rolling his eyes. _'The Japanese one has just stuck the longest.'_

 _'It fits him,'_ Itachi commented, sighing softly as he reached up to rub his throbbing lips. He didn't think he would sleep well, but finally did so to the blond whispering in his head some strange story of a trip he took on a pirate ship when he was a younger vampire.

The next morning, he was awoken by the sound of the door sliding open as Kisame stepped in, carefully balancing a tray in one hand as he did so. The wooden doors that guarded the inner room from the night air were folded away and the winter sun was shining in. It wasn't cold here yet; Tokyo's mild December weather was crisp and a light breeze brought the distant sounds of city life mixed with the morning birds and croaking ravens. He looked out the window to see if he could spot any of the large black birds. They had been such a noisy nuisance before he had left Japan, but they were just as nostalgic as the train voice. He saw one perched on a branch of a tree outside, surveying the world around it with its dark, beady eyes and smiled. Taking a deep breath, Itachi stretched his limbs and ran his hands through his long, loose hair. It felt dirty, but he doubted he would have a chance to wash it soon. He hadn't slept so well in ages.

"Mornin'," Kisame said as he set the tray down on a kotatsu in the corner then dragged the table into the middle of the room. "Breakfast. You slept like a rock," he grinned. "Didn't even move when I got up this morning."

"I was tired," Itachi commented to reply, carefully folding the bedding to return it to its storage compartment. He turned and knelt down across from Kisame as he took the lids off the dishes. "Is Deidara getting breakfast?" he asked, staring hungrily at the traditional meal laid out for him.

Kisame raised an eyebrow at him in amusement and shook his head. "Guess you'll be eating for two," he joked.

Itachi didn't smile at the joke as he picked up his chopsticks and murmured his thanks. Rice, miso soup, grilled fish, tsukemono, spicy cucumbers, hiyayakko, tamagoyaki, and tea. He hadn't had a meal like this in such a long time that, even though he had never eaten food laid out like this on a regular basis when he lived in Japan, he felt a swell of nostalgic happiness that caught Deidara's attention to his wakefulness. The vampire seemed unchanged, but more exhausted than usual by his Suntime death. He seemed pleased that Itachi had slept well and unperturbed that he wasn't going to get any blood.

After the two of them had been eating in silence for several minutes, Kisame spoke, "while I was out getting food, I found out we're not going any further."

"What?" Itachi asked in confusion, lowering his soup from his lips. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're not moving you two," Kisame told him. "We're not taking you to the House of Angels, which is where the Elder Council lives and works."

"Why not?"

"Because they're coming to you," the Shadow Hunter replied. He responded to Itachi's surprised expression with an uncertain shrug of his own.

"Is … is that strange?"

"Yep."

 _'Deidara… the Elder Council is here,'_ he murmured. _'It seems they came to use instead.'_

 _'Interesting…'_

 _'What does it mean?'_

 _'I dunno, un.'_

"What does that mean for us?" Itachi asked Kisame, setting his bowl down on the table.

"Means you should eat up cause they might call on you any minute," was Kisame's reply as he clicked his chopsticks together at him and began digging into his rice.

Kisame's prediction was correct. Itachi hadn't even finished setting down his chopsticks next to his empty plates when the door slid open by Vivitsu leading in an older looking couple. Despite their apparent age, both were tall and held themselves with the same dignity royalty might. The man's white beard was trimmed close to his olive face, his peppered hair died back off his face for convenience not fashion. He held a walking staff, but it wasn't for him to lean on. At first it looked warn and rough, but as he stepped closer, Itachi could see that it was engraved from tip to tip with pictures and patterns he couldn't follow. His clothes were grey, which struck Itachi as odd because he had only seen Shadow Hunters in black, blue, and red. The woman had sharper, paler features than her partner with cool blue eyes and white hair that was pulled into a neat bun. Her hands hung loosely at her side, which made her look exposed, compared to the crossed arms of her partner, but confident despite it. She was the strongest of the two of them and would be a Mage or Scholar, but again, her clothes were grey and he couldn't tell until she paused next to her partner and he could see subtle differences in the accent of their matching clothes. The man's belt and undershirt were black, while hers were blue. A Warrior and a Scholar.

"Good morning," Itachi said quietly as they stared down at him.

They gave a nod of their heads, the man bringing his hand up to rub his beard in a habitual gesture as the woman tilted her head to look at him more closely. "Mikoto's son without a doubt," she stated in English, her voice much deeper than he expected. "He looks just as she did at his age."

"Indeed, but he has his father in him, too," the man responded, looking him up and down like a proudly critical grandfather. "Itachi Uchiha, you are to follow us and stand before the Council of Elders while we discuss what has been done and must be done."

"What about Deidara?" Itachi asked as he stood up.

"The vampire will be brought as well," his partner replied after a moment's pause. She didn't seem pleased he spoke and reminded him of a very strict teacher and also of an elderly Belle. Though now that he thought of it, he didn't know how long Belle had been a vampire.

Heart pounding in his chest, Itachi did as he was told, slipping his shoes back on and accepting Deidara's messenger bag from Kisame. As he followed them through the hallway and out through a courtyard, he noticed that while Vivitsu was walking silently behind him, Kisame had stayed behind. Somehow it made him nervous not to have him around like a silently guardian, but he tried not to show it on his face as they walked into the oldest part of the temple and through two sets of double doors that stood opened for them, giving way to a wide set of stairs that led into a brightly lit depth. Itachi was reminded of the Vampire Council's hallways and rooms, but somehow the vampire's hall seemed much more beautiful than the Shadow Hunters'. He imagined the vampires had a much more infinite amount of time to dedicate themselves to perfecting the art they liked.

As they followed the tunnel, Itachi observed the art on the walls in the form of tapestries and the statues carved from marble and other hard materials of Shadow Hunters wearing different kinds of dress ranging from armor to simple clothes, both men and women. All of them had been carved so that actual weapons could be held in their hands. Guns, swords, daggers, bows, and spears. He realized that the deeper they traveled, the more ancient the statues seemed to become. He paused to reach out and touch one of the weapons and was surprised that it moved a little.

"Always be prepared," Vivitsu told him, smiling as he waited for Itachi to continue walking. "Much like the sanctuary in Beijing, it can be used as a safe house and defense. Today it is being used for the trial."

Itachi stared at him a moment, then continued to follow the two Shadow Hunters and stepped into a large room with the floor sunk in like a circular theater. The stone stairs going down also served as seats for the onlookers who watched them descend to the bottle of the basin. The space was wide enough that Itachi didn't feel as though he were in the bottom of a pit, but it was still uncomfortable. Deidara was kneeling on the ground, waiting there with two Shadow Hunters, still sewn shut and restrained. Itachi started to open his mouth to let the watchful vampire know he was alright when the two guards rammed their long silver blades into Deidara's legs where he knelt, pinning him down to the floor. Itachi stumbled with a sharp gasp of pain, but Vivitsu caught him from falling and let Itachi use him to regain his balance as he bit down on his lips to keep himself from crying out in pain.

"That is not—" Vivitsu began angrily to the two Shadow Hunters, but was cut off.

"It is an order."

Vivitsu look subtly towards the waiting observers, then apologetically at Itachi who was mentally insisting to Deidara that he was fine and not to block him out again. Itachi took a deep breath and tested standing on his aching legs. They were steady and he turned to face the Elder Council.

There were thirty-nine of them sitting in an odd triangle formation. They were a mixture of men and women, a few he couldn't tell from the distance. From their clothing, he guessed them to be a mixture of Scholars, Warriors, and Mages, all sitting with their colors instead of their partners. The Scholars sat in the higher seats, then the Warriors below them to the left and the Mages below to the right. Their ages seemed to range as much as their gender, but they all stared down at him with a mixture of curiosity and displeasure. The two Shadow Hunters who led him there split up, the man sat with the Warriors and the woman took a seat near the center of the Scholars. Itachi took another deep breath.

 _'Don't be scared. I'll tear their faces off if they hurt you, un.'_

Itachi decided against responding to him. He was nervous, but Deidara's confidence was as contagious as the pain in his legs and if he ignored the pain, he felt as though he was giving a presentation to a board of directors, not being on trial for doing nothing wrong. The threat they posed loomed over the two of them like an angry shadow, but he wasn't scared of them. He was quite certain Deidara would get him out as a last resort. Glancing around the room, he noted Vivitsu going to sit with his group of Shadow Hunters, his partner leaning forward in her eagerness. The other Shadow Hunters were either sitting in their pairs, spread sporadically across the audience. Kisame entered then, walking down the stairs to sit close by, his arms folded in a relaxed manner. Taking a deep breath, Itachi willed his heartbeat to return to a normal pace and held his head up to them.

"Why have you brought us here?" he asked the Elder Council before any of them could speak. They all look startled by his question, perhaps not use to those standing before them to speak with such indignant confidence. Even Deidara looked mildly surprised out of the corner of his eye.

"Itachi Uchiha, you and the vampire Deidara are brought before us to put an end to this abominable union," the Scholar next to the woman who led him hear stated, staring down at him, though without the terrible strength of the Alphas. Itachi didn't blink.

"Is there a mutual law that stops vampires from sharing their soul with a human?" Itachi asked.

"You are a Shadow Hunter," a female Mage responded.

"I was raised human for over half my life," Itachi countered. "What harm has this caused you Shadow Hunters that you would attack us without warning and drag us thousands of miles away from our home?"

"You," another man began, "are only several miles away from your home. The vampire dragged you away from your home. Away from your school, away from your homeland. He erased your entire existence from this nation and took you into his harem of kidnapped human slaves."

"That is incorrect," Itachi said as Deidara growled angrily. Itachi gave his hand a subtle wave at Deidara; he would handle this. "As you insist, I was born a Shadow Hunter. Vampire glamour does not work on me just as it doesn't work on you. I went willingly with Deidara to Germany as did the other humans who lived there. If you have been told otherwise, your information is incorrect. The humans who lived there were orphans without a home. Deidara gave them a home, education, and a future. If you hadn't sewn his mouth shut, Deidara could have explained the same thing."

There was a hive of murmuring buzz around him from the Elders and the watching Shadow Hunters. Scanning their faces, it suddenly occurred to Itachi why they had been forced here – why they were so disgusted by their union. It was discrimination. As simple and as cruel as discrimination against people among normal humans. Humans discriminating against skin color, discriminating against homosexuality, against lifestyles. They hated Deidara because he was a vampire – something that wasn't his fault and not his choice. They hated both of them because they thought they were an abomination. A Shadow Hunter and a Vampire living together, sharing blood, sharing souls. It was that simple. And it was stupid. Shadow Hunters killed vampires, not befriend them. They believed that peace between their species could not and should not exist. He inhaled and exhaled again slowly to keep his temper in check. Deidara made a soft noise that sounded compassionate towards his anger.

"You are delusional," murmured one of the Warriors.

"I am not."

"This union will be divided," another Warrior stated. "It is endangering our people."

"How could it possibly—"

"You belong here with us," the man interrupted. "I am sure you are aware of how you were lost to us. Had we found you, you would have been raised as you should have been."

"I am sorry. I have chosen not to join you," Itachi informed him.

"You have been shown only a negative light of your people since you have reentered this world," the first Elder woman he met said. "Do not make such a decision rashly based on the point of view from our enemies."

 _'It is your decision to make, un,'_ Deidara growled, finally voicing his irritation. _'Tell her!'_

Itachi looked down at him and took another half step closer, shielding him from the Elders. He looked up at them with his expression set. "Regardless of your thoughts on my choices, it is mine. I can't allow you to separate us. You cannot guarantee Deidara's safety afterwards. He is my friend. I went with him willingly. I shared my soul with him willingly. I won't allow you to harm him." He felt his chest tighten a little at the thought and he swallowed the nervous saliva in his mouth. "May I ask the Council something?"

"You may," the woman responded, the curiosity in her expression mimicked in the other Scholars, though the Mages and Warriors gave her sideways glances.

"I am not familiar with the Shadow Hunters and their laws," he began, speaking steadily to keep his nerves in check. "My family was killed by a demon, but is… is dealing with demons illegal?"

"Yes, of course," one of the younger Scholars said, leaning forward slightly with an expression of surprise. "Generally, intervention is not necessary because the deal generally goes wrong and the dealers are killed; as your family unfortunately was, I'm sure you have been told the story."

"Are there ways to tell if someone has made a deal with a demon?" he asked.

"Magic always leaves a trace behind, no matter how old it is," one of the younger Mages, a European man of late twenties informed him. "Demon dealing especially. If there is suspicion, we look into it. Why do you ask?"

"Can anyone accuse someone of demon dealing?"

"Any Shadow Hunter," a female Warrior replied. "Suspicion is acknowledged, the Mages look for magical traces for evidence." They all looked at him with curious anticipation, faces partially masked, but eyes sharped. They couldn't imagine why he would ask them such things and how it tied into their refusal to acknowledge of Itachi and Deidara's shared souls.

Itachi swallowed again, the weight of their gaze as well as Deidara's crushing hard against him. "You want me to be a Shadow Hunter," he said to the council, surprised by the calmness in his voice. "As a Shadow Hunter, I accuse the Mage Council of dealing with a demon to frame my family and demand justice."

The outburst came form all around him, from the onlookers and the shocked Elders before him. It was so loud his ears rang slightly and he had to resist the urge to take a step back from their anger. "How dare you accuse us," a female Mage demanded, rising from her seat. Deidara growled at her, but Itachi held his hand out to him, shaking his head.

"What evidence do you have to present?" the elderly female Scholar asked. Her expression didn't give way to whether she believed or disbelieved him, remaining silent and blank.

"Suspicion is acknowledged, the Mages look for magical traces of evidence," Itachi repeated. "If there is a Mage trusted to investigate their own, it should be done if you truly see me as a Shadow Hunter. I have my own evidence in my own memory; my parents were not dealing with demons; they were trying to create peace between vampires, werewolves, witches, and Shadow Hunters with the rest of the Uchiha family. The demon attacked them. I watched it kill my father and drag my mother away, but she put a spell on me to keep any 'monsters' from finding me. Including the other Shadow Hunters."

"You were in the house, child?" an older Warrior Elder whose gender he couldn't tell asked, a hand rising to their mouth.

"Yes," he murmured. "I was in my father's study."

"There was no one alive in that house," the Elder replied. "I helped search the Uchiha compound myself. I walked through the hallways of your family's home. There was no one alive in that house."

The memory of that night had been bleary until he had shared his soul with Deidara, but this moment had always been fresh in his mind. A nightmare that haunted him. He shuddered now to remember it, but Deidara's presence lingered in his mind like a protective shield. The memory wouldn't hurt him. "I was in the study, under my father's desk. My mother placed me there and told me to remain quiet. I heard my mother die. It was slow," he paused, feeling pressure building in his chest and Deidara, silently pressed against the divide between them, allowing him to continue after a moment's pause, "I was there until the next night when the human police officers found me. I lived in human orphanages and foster homes, alone, until Deidara found me. My mother's spell kept you from finding me. Why would she do that? Unless she didn't trust you. The spell did not consider Deidara a monster."

"Speculation."

"Perhaps, but if you see me as a Shadow Hunter, you will recognize my suspicions and investigate," Itachi told them. "Especially if the contract with the demon was to kill the entire Uchiha clan, since it would still be an active one. I am still alive."

"This has nothing to do with why you are called here," the young Mage said, though he looked slightly disturbed, glancing at his fellow Mages for some clarity.

"I know that," Itachi said to him. "But your dislike of me is based entirely on the fact that you don't believe there can be a union and I have just accused the Mage Council of attempting to destroy an attempt at peace. You don't think peace is possible, but the existence of Silluetu prove it is. Look to yourselves before you refute peace. It was and is my choice to be with Deidara. The only threat we are causing you is the one to your belief that coexistence is not possible."

"If the Council wishes," Vivitsu said from where he sat with his arms and legs cross casually next to his partner, "Sophia can test for the magical traces of demon deals easily. I trust her to investigate fairly." His smile was neutral, but next to him, his partner looked suddenly terrified at the thought. Itachi didn't blame her. If she performed the test and found him to be wrong, she would look foolish before her own Council for doubting them. If she found it to be true, she would look like a traitor. If she lied to the Council, her magic would be forever doubted by the Mage Council and never be trusted again. Vivitsu didn't seem to notice or mind her reaction. Perhaps he was formulating plots of his own.

 _'I_ like _him,'_ Deidara said brightly.

"Regardless, it does not change the fact you were brought here because this union cannot be tolerated," a Warrior said, glancing at the male Mage sitting next to him. Itachi could tell they were partners – something in the way their eyes seemed to speak to one another in glances. The man was angry and worried for his partner. His voice was dangerous. "You will be separated and be integrated back into your true livelihood."

"No," Itachi stated, feeling Deidara's agitation rising. He paused, listening to the blond then spoke again, "Deidara is asking nicely to please let us go." The annoyed expression on the blond's face let everyone watching know that 'please' had not been in the phrase he said, and it definitely hadn't been nice.

"You are mocking us!" The male Shadow Hunter seated to Deidara's left rose angrily as he unsheathed his silver blade. Itachi turned, seeing that it was one of the pair who had taunted him by taking him to see Deidara in the Death Room. "Blood traitor! You and this creature are better off dead to us."

It happened so fast, even Deidara couldn't react. The Hunter moved forward, slicing into the air to aim for his head. Deidara felt a pull, similar to when Sasori took from him to use his connection for himself, but it wasn't Sasori. It was Itachi and he used the stolen energy to move faster than he should have been able to, faster than Deidara could in his position. He heard people around them exclaiming for the Hunter to stop, heard the sickening sound of pierced skin and air being forced out of bodily cavern. Itachi's pain was his own and he screamed, muffled by the threads stopping him from opening his mouth. Time stopped. Itachi had moved in the way. Itachi had taken strength from his soul and used it to protect him. He couldn't stop the blade with his hands so he did it with his body. His human fell to the ground. Blood on the ground. Blood spattered all over his own body. Itachi's precious blood.

Rage like the blond had never felt before rose in him from his toes, clenching his chest, twisting his heart, compressing his throat. This Hunter. Itachi. The hunter. Itachi. He couldn't process a single coherent thought. He needed to kill his man. Tear his limbs off, peel his skin, pluck out his organs. He didn't care if the Hunters would overwhelm him. He would destroy this vile creature.

But he couldn't move.

He screamed again with anger. What magic was this? He hated magic! Hated Hunters. He screamed his rage and frustration as his muscles shook to tear at his bindings to part his lips by force through the thread, but he couldn't move an inch and Itachi's precious blood spread across the floor. LET ME KILL HIM, his mind screamed. But his will couldn't break this hold no matter how he fought it. He clutched desperately at the pieces of his mind that was Itachi, but there was no response.

It all happened in the span of a few seconds. On a blink of time had passed before he looked back up at the Hunter, but now there was a long spear piercing his temple. An ancient weapon that had been once held by stone Shadow Hunter at the top of the stairs. The arch of the throw caused the metal spike to embed in the ground. The weight of the Hunter caused his head to slowly slide down the shaft to the floor, his body folding underneath him inches from Itachi.

The dead Hunter's partner screamed and the room broke into chaos.


	29. Accusations

His ears were ringing with the silence in his mind, the voices around him a muffled chaos. A few distinguished themselves enough to be recognizable. A woman screaming in distress. People shouting. Someone yelling Itachi's name. His whole life he had difficulty focusing on one thing at a time and now he couldn't look away from the body on the floor. The blood pool spreading. In the silence, his mind screamed, growing more and more desperate as nothing answered him. He hated silence. Hated Alone. He couldn't be Alone again. Never again. He needed to get to Itachi – just a few inches away from him, but he couldn't reach him. And the smell. Itachi's precious blood spilling on the floor, wasted. It filled his nose and made him shake with desire. Every muscle in his body was frozen. He couldn't even tear through the thread on his lips to scream for his unmoving human.

The dead Hunter stood up, drawing every eye and silencing the crowd.

Slowly, the head was slid along the shaft of the spear that had been thrown from nowhere until it was removed, the spear wobbling grotesquely where it still remained stuck in the ground. As the Hunter planted his feet on the ground, his gun and dagger were removed from their holster and sheath. Blood was still pouring out of the hole in his head from the spear. His partner fell to her knees and crawled backwards, her terror as pungent as Itachi's precious blood.

"What blood magic is this?" someone murmured nearby.

"Has the discipline of the Hunters dropped so low that a foot soldier attacks an accused in the middle of a trial?"

The sound of weapons being unsheathed echoed against the stone as all the Hunters turned to face the newcomer, but he did not seem to mind. The vampire walked calmly down the stairs with a tall human trailing nervously behind him. Deidara could smell them coming closer, but the smell of wood and sand did not comfort him as it once did.

"Sasori-danna," he gasped out desperately.

"Akasuna Sasori, how dare you enter this place?" one of the older Elders whispered angrily.

"You have stolen something of mine," Sasori said calmly. He had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and walked to the middle, his footsteps never wavering in their pace. Rarely did Sasori hurry anywhere that someone was waiting for him. The child vampire stopped next to the blond and the scent of him mixed with the ambrosial scent of Itachi filled his nose. "You have injured it."

"You threw the spear?" the dead Hunter's partner gasped hoarsely, but Sasori ignored her.

Sudden realization made Deidara begin to struggle again. It wasn't magic holding him down. It was Sasori keeping him from moving. "Sasori-danna," he preened through the thread. "Itachi! Let me go! Itachi!"

"Stop fighting me, Deidara," Sasori stated blandly.

 _BUT ITACHI,_ he screamed against the door that separated him from his Maker. The force of it made Sasori's eyes dart back to him and he almost broke free, but the redhead held out his hand and crushed all hopes of escaping as his invisible strings became vice like. He had never even come closer to breaking out of Sasori's hold. If he had been in any other situation, he would have been pleased.

The dead Hunter took a step closer and held his dagger out to Sasori, who took it and began gently cutting the stitches in Deidara's mouth while the dead Hunter slid the blades carefully from his legs. The watching Hunters around them seemed to realize that their dead comrade was being controlled by Sasori at the same time, but his Maker ignored the woman's demands to release her partner. "I am here to act as witness," Sasori continued to the Elder Council though he didn't look at them. "Since you have so willingly come to Japan to hear this accusation, I thought it would be interesting to watch. Especially since Shadow Hunter councils are so famous for their fair judgement. As evident by the way you've entirely silenced one of the accused." His fingers touched Deidara's chin to lift it up higher and examine the work. Sasori's face was blank and impassive as ever, but his eyes were blazed with anger as he began to remove the severed threads.

"You called us here?" one of the Mage Elders demanded angrily.

"I did," the human with Sasori said, stepping up. Deidara turned his eyes to Tal whose face appeared calm, but kept glancing down at Itachi on the ground as if he wanted to go to him.

"Itachi—"

"Be quiet," Sasori said, his voice low and dangerous. "If you weren't such an idiot, you'd be able to tell he's still alive."

"He's bleeding to death! Let me help him, un!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"You will kill him," Sasori said with calm certainty, pulling the last string out of his mouth with his bare hands. His eyes, murky from the day time death both of them were fighting, were deadly as they looked at the marks the silver thread left on his face. They would heal, but Sasori never liked when his things were damaged. If he, himself, felt the burn of the silver on his fingers, it didn't show in his face.

"My name is Tal," the Indian man was saying. "I am the Human Servant of Kali, Diplomatic Liaison between the Elder Council and Vampire Court."

The oldest of the Elders exchanged glances with one another and slowly settled back into their seats and looked him over with the same attentiveness they had given Itachi. A few followed in suit, but others remained standing in the presence of the threat Sasori posed. Movement caught Deidara's attention as someone knelt down by Itachi and he growled angrily until Sasori kicked him. Kisame didn't flinch at the vampire's anger as he checked on the brunette, gently turning him so he could press a piece of cloth over the wound. Deidara watch the blood bubble and spill over the man's fingers until Sasori forced his head away. He was stopping him from paying too much attention to his blood, but Deidara was not grateful.

"For what purpose have you called us here, Tal of Kali?" an Elder Warrior questioned.

"It is relevant to the events of the past several minutes," Tal informed her, glancing down at Itachi again, but forcing his expression upwards. "I come to bring the Elder Council's attention to a breech in treaty and demand reconciliation on behalf of my lady. Kali currently suffers from Bloodlust, but it is not the result of her own weakness. As you know, she was working to bring a peace treaty and ceasefire between the Shadow Hunters and vampires. Yet, before an agreement could be made, she was stabbed with a poisoned blade and it forced the Bloodstarved state on her making the possibility of peace null. Before the Vampire Court could put her to death for it, she closed off her connection with me and fled to fight off the poison on her own."

"You are claiming an attempted assassination on our part?" another Warrior Elder asked.

Tal nodded, "a failed one. I don't know if it was the action of an individual or the Elder Council, but it was an attempt."

"Why didn't you come forward sooner?" a younger Scholar questioned with a frown. "Kali hasn't met with us since before I was born."

"Kali entrusted my protection to her friend, Deidara," he gestured back to the blond. "Challenging a bias Council without acceptable proof would have been suicide for me and he advised me against it. Shadow Hunters have not been quiet about their dislike of our union. I know it to be true, because I felt the blade embed her side as if it were my own. I felt the poison spread before she closed me off. I am her Human Servant. I felt what she felt, just like Itachi feels the pain Deidara feels. I could not challenge this without help. One of your own Shadow Hunters has seen Kali, she is of sound mind. I demand to be presented by the antidote for this poison as compensation for this crime."

"Who of us as seen Kali?" the elderly female Scholar asked, leaning forward.

In the silence that followed, Kisame looked up when he realized that Tal was talking about himself and shifted to look back at the Elders, keeping his hand firmly pressed down on Itachi. "When I was on the train to Beijing with Itachi, it made an emergency stop because of the snow. She boarded and I met her," he said after a moment. A few Hunters in the seats behind them muttered darkly and he turned to give them a nasty smirk. "Should I lie about that?" he questioned them. "Lie to the Elder Council?"

"Why did she board the train, Kisame?" the Scholar's partner asked.

"She was hungry," the Hunter asked. "She saw Itachi alone and wanted to try to feed on him without killing him. She stopped when she saw Itachi's necklace and—"

"Necklace?"

When Kisame glanced back at the vampires, Sasori gave Deidara a small kick to get his attention and loosen his control of the blond's mouth. "My humans wear them, un," he croaked. "No one can feed from them. They are mine."

"She stopped? Even though she was Bloodstarved she didn't hurt any of the passengers?"

"She spoke to Itachi," Kisame continued. "She asked a lot about him," he nodded to Tal, "and then left. She didn't attack anyone. She said she was trying regain control."

The Elder Council sat in silence, glancing at one another as though discussing what they had learned with their eyes. "Perhaps I can offer a solution to the situation," Sasori said, reaching out to wipe the blood off Deidara's chin from the slow healing wounds. "You need time to discuss what has happened and come to your own conclusion. Release us. Investigate the accusations presented to you before you pass judgement on those who haven't breached any treaties. If you touch my things again, I will return."

"You are threatening us, vampire," a Warrior growled, brandishing his weapon from the stairs. "You would start a war."

"Your treaties mean little to me," Sasori said, the boredom apparent in his voice. "I have no ties to the Vampire Council, so it would do nothing but rid the world of a few self-righteous idiots."

"Your own strikes against us are many. We should just kill you now."

Deidara, still kneeling on the floor at Sasori's feet, was temporarily distracted from trying to look at Itachi again. He looked at his Maker's face and quivered suddenly in excitement. The bloodlust that washed over the redhead enticed his own that had been encouraged by Itachi's blood and his own hunger. Sasori very much wanted them to try. He very much wanted to spend this afternoon tearing skin from muscles and breaking bones in his fingers. He very much wanted to slide his hands through their torsos and tear out their hearts so that he could drink from their veins like a straw. Their numbers could overwhelm him, but Sasori would not know fear. Deidara wanted to join him. Not for revenge anymore, but for the absolute beauty of the massacre. It would be wonderful. The blood of the Hunters painting them in crimson wash that would stain their skin and they would spend countless Suntime deaths curled together in darkness licking in away. The intensity of the Child Vampires caused even Kisame and Tal to take a step away from him in fear. The terror in the room masked even the scent of Itachi's blood and the blond preened softly to play with that fear, nostrils flaring to take it in.

When Sasori spoke, it held the same monotone it always did, but somehow it held a terror that even the most seasoned Elders had not heard before. "You will give this human the antidote to the poison used to sabotage Kali. You will find and try the Hunter who poisoned Kali if they are still alive. You will punish the malicious Mage who took pleasure in mutilating my Made and you will not follow us as we take our leave. If you would like to make an appointment and discuss my strikes against your kind, feel free to send an official envoy to my home in the Middle East. I do enjoy company."

There was a moment of silence in the room as Sasori stared the Elder Council down before he seemed to decide that the silence was answer enough. Taking a step forward, he knelt down next to Itachi across from Kisame and looked down at his own fingers. They were coated with a thin film of Deidara's blood from the holes made by the threads. He froze just a moment, contemplating the blood then reached down and slid his fingers between he brunette's lips instead of his own. Satisfied, he lifted Itachi up as easily as though he had been made of paper and not flesh. Deidara's anxiety spiked again, but the Child Vampire appeared gentle with his human he half turned away. "I expect to hear from you in three days," Sasori said.

"And if we refuse your demands," a Mage questioned.

Sasori stopped and slowly turned to him, an eyebrow raised just slightly. "I will not repeat myself," he stated, then gave his back to the Council and began to walk up the stairs. Tal followed behind him and Deidara experienced the odd sensation of his body getting up and walking without him doing anything. The dead Hunter followed close behind.

"Stop them! This is outrageous!" another Mage Elder shouted, pounding his fist on the table in front of him. "This child is making a mockery of us! The union between this vampire and Shadow Hunter will not be permitted."

The redhead paused when several Hunters stepped in his path, brandishing their own weapons him. The dead Hunter lifted his weapons at the ready. Sasori turned and handed Itachi over to Tal, who was not nearly as strong as the vampire and staggered slightly, but held him up as Sasori faced the approaching danger. "You intend to fight me?" he asked, eyes dangerously excited.

"The vampire and boy stay," the closest Hunter stated. "They will be separated."

Sasori tilted his head to the side and gave a sniff of the air. "You have Deidara's blood on you," he whispered.

"Yeah I stabbed the blood sucker with my blade," the Hunter replied, "through the shoulder and into the ground. Does that piss you off?"

"I often think about doing the same," the redhead said softly. "But only I can do that." Deidara doubted the Hunters around them could see what had happened, he barely followed the movements himself as Sasori grabbed the Hunter and opened his chest cavity with his fingers and watched the man's organs fall from their encasement. The blond was suddenly very aware of how long it had been since he fed. His senses were overwhelmed by the smell of blood, the yelling, the sudden movements. The sun was high in the sky and the only reason he was able to stand was because Sasori was still holding him fast.

The Hunters did not react well to their comrade's quick death. The yelling grew in such volume that Deidara's ears sting. The Hunters cursed his Maker, the commanders standing and shouted at their men to stop and Sasori's bloodlust leaked into Deidara's own as he tore at anyone who came into reach, using the dead Hunter to guard their backs and attached his strings to the Hunters that fell to make them rise again to push the horrified Shadow Hunters back.

"Enough!" boomed a command from behind him. Deidara's hair stood on end as a wave of power seemed to heat the air. The Elders were on their feet again, but none of them rushed to join the fight. A Mage held a staff forward to work the magic that had caught all their attentions. They seemed to understand the dangers of doing so and were trying to prevent a worse bloodbath than had already started. Obediently, though hesitant, the Hunters lowered their weapons and stared at them.

"Akasuna Sasori," one of the Scholar Elders spoke in a slightly shaken voice. "Please release our fallen comrades from your control."

"And leave myself vulnerable?" Sasori asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. "It is the middle of the afternoon and the sun is high in the sky." Several of the Hunters around them stiffened with that realization and Deidara felt a nasty grin spread over his own face. Here was a vampire they had only heard stories of. A vampire stronger than they had ever faced before. A vampire so old and so strong that he could still functioned during the day. Not fully, though. Even Sasori had limits and was hindered by his Suntime death, but the seven slaughters that happened in the last few seconds were caused by hindered movements. His Maker was truly a monster.

"We will meet you in three days' time – after consulting your demands," the man replied.

"And his?" Sasori questioned, nodding his head to Itachi.

"We will investigate his claims," his voice was quieter.

Deidara made a small noise, resisting the urge to lick his lips as Sasori took Itachi from the struggling Tal and looked at the blood on Sasori's hands. He was so hungry. Sasori was never going to let him live this down. I have no doubt you'll be able to find someone who can prove the Mage Council's innocence," Sasori sneered. "I will find another witness to give their own testimony. Three days."

Turning again, he continued up the stairs and ignored the Hunters that gave way reluctantly as their dead friends fell to the ground one by one, released from Sasori's hold. No one followed them. When they exited the temple, the sun blinded them, burning Deidara's skin, melting his muscles, but Sasori held him like a puppeteer and he followed him painfully. The smell of blood wafted off his Maker. Itachi was still silent.

"We need to get him to the hospital," Tal said as they approached the car waiting at the bottom of the temple stairs. It smelled like Sasori and Tal and must have been the vehicle they used to get here. The driver's expression was oddly blank and didn't react to his blood covered passengers.

"No, we're going to Deidara's apartment," Sasori stated, sitting in the back seat of the car as Tal placed Itachi on the seat next to him. Deidara was made to crawl middle seat, though he was unable to look at Itachi, and Tal got into the front. "Give the driver directions."

"Why not the hospital?" Deidara demanded, now that they were out of sight from the Hunters. He knew better than to question Sasori any more than he had in front of an enemy. "Why are you stalling now, un!? Itachi will die!"

"Maybe I want him to die," Sasori said coolly.

"I WON'T LET YOU KILL HIM, UN!" Deidara shouted, fighting his hold on him. He nearly broke free again, but Sasori threw him down on the floor at his feet.

"Tell him."

"Don't let him die," the blond begged. "I can't hear him. He's not answering me, un. Please, Sasori-danna, he's dying."

"Maybe he's as annoyed at you as I am," his Maker muttered, jabbing his finger at the driver again. He waited until Deidara finally shouted the instructions to the driver before began examining the wound on the brunette. "He's fine. Your blood is healing it." He gave a dissatisfied huff and sat back in his seat with his eyes closed.

"Forgive me," Tal said after several minutes of silence. "I have never seen a vampire walk in the sun as you can."

"Of course not," Sasori responded, not answering Tal's unasked question of how. His eyes cracked open again and he looked down at Deidara still sitting on the floor with his eyes staring over at Itachi in worry and hunger. When the blond finally looked at him, the redhead held his hand up and let Deidara move closer to him so he could lick the Shadow Hunter blood off of his fingers. Tal gave a soft smile and nod before turning back around to face the front window. Tal had plenty of experience speaking with egotistical vampires.

They rode in silence until the driver pulled into the underground garage of the building Deidara had brought Itachi so long ago. Sasori, hands now cleaned of blood, carried Itachi – and invisibly Deidara – into the building and rode the elevator up to the mansion. Everything was exactly how the two of them had left it, and Deidara remembered two things with a slightly twinge in his chest. He remembered Itachi's fear, but willingness to go with him even though he thought he would die, and he also remembered that there was no blood in the kitchen. Sasori left him standing alone in his misery as he put Itachi to bed in the master bedroom, instructing Tal to shut the door, though it was unnecessary because Deidara could hear him asking Tal his opinion on Itachi's wound and then told him to take care of Itachi before he returned to the main room. The expression on the redhead's face was equally agitated and tired, and Deidara returned it with a miserable face and complained in his most pitiful voice that he was hungry.

Sasori didn't need to tell Deidara that he thought he was an idiot. His expression said it for him, but neither of them could go hunting. They were both at their limits. Together, they went into the extra bedroom and welcomed the chilly darkness. The cracks in the door were stuffed up and they crawled under the psychedelically decorated blankets of Deidara's bed, tearing off their already ruined clothes. The blond still felt his Maker's strong hold on him. For all he put on the face that he didn't care, Sasori wasn't going to chance him accidentally feeding from Itachi or Tal. Instead, he let Deidara wrap himself against his own body, sinking his fangs into the pale skin of his Maker and desperately feast on the blood that gave him strength as though he were a newly Made. He was dizzy with it, confusing images swirly in the blond's mind and he temporarily forgot that Itachi was silent on his end. Pleasure and memories and thoughts replaced that fear because he and Sasori were alone in their minds and while the redhead still kept him out, he was closer and comforted by his presence. Sasori's angry, possessive grip on him told him how furious he was. At whom, the blond wasn't entirely certain, but if it was himself, he didn't care. After weeks and weeks, he could finally rest – even just a little in the embrace of Sasori's' cold, unmoving body.

"How did you know, un?" Deidara whispered in the late afternoon, both of them exhausted and leaning against the mental door that separated them to talk. His door was open just slightly, his fingers wriggled in as far into the entryway as Sasori would allow. It wasn't very far, but somewhere in the darkness beyond, the redhead was holding his hand.

"Know what?"

Deidara didn't answer.

"When you reopened your connection with Itachi again, some of your thoughts slipped to me," his Maker explained after a pause. "I knew where you were – your human told me. I felt Kali's thoughts on your mind and I went to Rome to get her human. He used his connections to contact the Elder Council who agreed to meet him in the rendezvous for the trial since their city is inaccessible to vampires. I wanted to pull the rug out from under them."

"What witnesses?" Deidara asked softly.

"You'll have to see."

"Itachi said that too, un," grumbled the blond, banging his head against the door frame and looked across the room at the Itachi puzzle waiting on his favorite pillow. "He wouldn't tell me what he was going to tell the Hunters."

"Probably for the same reason."

"Which is what?"

"You are an idiot."

Deidara glared and pinched Sasori's hand, but was pinched back harder. "How did Itachi do it?"

"Move in front of the blade? He borrowed some of your strength," Sasori replied as if it was obvious. "I don't think he realized what he was doing and acted on instincts alone. Your human is a bit dense himself. Not as incompetent as you though."

"Hey."

"Without you, your human is helpless. That is incompetence on your part."

Deidara frowned into the depths of his own mind. It was a ruin in decay, the grim was spread over everything like crud oil and with Itachi silent on his end, it was growing thick again, coming closer as though it wanted to consume him. He crawled closer to the door. "Let me in, Sasori-danna," he whispered, trying to hide in his nervousness in his voice. He wanted to escape his own head. He was so tired.

"No," was the obvious reply. "You are like a child who doesn't take care of its own pet."

"Look who's talking, un," he muttered under his breath.

If Sasori heard him, which he was sure he did, the vampire ignored the comment. "If you expect him to live much longer, I suggest you make him less helpless," he was saying.

"I think he did okay, un."

"He had no fucking clue what he was doing. He went to China without any plan."

"But he tried," Deidara grinned affectionately, thinking of Itachi hopefully recuperating in the other room. "He is very adaptable. Like me, un!"

"You are not adaptable," Sasori informed him. "Destroying something and making it your own is not adapting."

"Did you kill Kit?" Deidara questioned, sticking his face against the crack of the door.

Sasori's fingers closed angrily around his own, thinking of her. "Yes."

"Were the others there?"

"What others?"

"My humans," Deidara grumbled impatiently. "Sam, Wes, Grey… The werewolves."

The redhead was quiet for a moment then heaved a slow, heavy sigh. "I don't know. I smelled humans, but I didn't see anyone," he replied. "I didn't stay to find out what happened to them all. None of the vampires challenged me when I entered. I do not know if that was because they still recognize you as the Master of the City or if they were scared of me."

Deidara laughed a little. "They have to. I left instructions and people in charge, technically I am still the Master, un. Even if they try to usurp me, I'll just kill them all again." Sasori didn't' say anything in response and they lapsed in silence again for a short time. "Hey, Danna…. I thought you couldn't control Hunters' bodies."

"I can't."

"You controlled the dead bodies though, un."

"Yes."

"How?"

"The same way I control anything else I want."

Deidara frowned, irritated that Sasori wasn't answering him directly. Maybe he didn't know why either, but it was still terrifying to watch dead bodies move around seemingly on their own. He had seen it many times before, but it never got any less creepy. "Why do you think you can control them dead, un?" he asked, trying to spark Sasori's curiosity.

Instead of indulging him, Sasori made a small grunting sound of indifference. "Be silent," he finally murmured. "Let me relax. I have to clean up too many of your messes today."

"I would have been okay, un."

"You would have made a much bigger mess."

"You like big messes," he crooned with a giggle. "War again… hehehe… think about it. We could go back and kill them all together… hehehe…."

"What did I just say?"

"To shut up."

"So do it."

Obeying, Deidara released his hands and closed the door between them, letting his thoughts wander aimlessly until the sun finally set and allowed their muscles to come alive again. Deidara unfurled himself from the sheets and Sasori's unmoving limbs. They had lain together in silence for several hours as the cursed sun hogged the majority of day time. His Maker's eyes were closed, lips parted as if he were sleeping, but it was a human habit that remained even after so many years. It was difficult to tell whether Sasori was aware of his surroundings or completely lost in his own thoughts. Maybe he was planning; plotting dangerous games and reactions of reactions. Deidara wished he would allow him into his mind. What a terrifying place that would be; he shivered in delight. Though he supposed it was a bit selfish to want to go into his mind when he absolutely wouldn't let Sasori into his own.

Stretching his legs out, he noticed he was completely free from Sasori's hold and briefly contemplated a run for freedom. Itachi was still absent in his mind and he wanted to go to him. Maybe he would wake up if he went to him. Sasori's blood had given him more strength, but he knew his Maker would want him to feed before seeing him.

Feeding.

A deep imposing hunger rose in him and began eating at his thoughts. He hadn't gone so long without feeding in a very long time. The thought of the two helpless humans in the other room was extremely tempting to think about, but he turned back to focus on Sasori who had still not moved. He looked like a little boy. Deidara grinned and crawled back to lie on top of Sasori, reaching up to poke his nose gently. When he still didn't respond, he slid closer and began stroking his cheek softly.

"Sasori-danna," he called softly.

The body under him stirred and the dark lashes parted to reveal the honey colored eyes to focus on his face.

"Were you sleeping?" Deidara crooned at him.

"Don't be stupid," Sasori muttered, running his hand through his hair to ruffle the bedridden lazy locks. "Vampires do not sleep."

"Maybe you were," he teased.

"Vampires do not sleep," Sasori repeated.

"Can I go see Itachi now?"

Sasori rolled his eyes than turned to lie on his stomach. Deidara didn't think so.

"I'm still hungry, Sasori-danna," he whined as he wiggled closer against him, gnawing playfully on the back of his neck. "I want more," he whispered in his ear.

"How much blood do you think I am going to give you?" Sasori muttered into the pillow. "It is your own fault that you're in this situation."

"It's not my fault," Deidara retorted, pinching his sides, but the redhead didn't react. "I went strong and healthy. The castle's magic was broken and anyone could have wandered in. I didn't know what had happened there, un."

"You care too much."

"I don't—"

"If you didn't, you wouldn't have kept that human."

"Kit was—"

"I don't mean her," Sasori interrupted.

Deidara frowned, grinding his chin lightly against the meat of his shoulder. "Itachi?"

"He has weakened you."

"No, he hasn't," Deidara snapped bitterly.

Sasori shifted under him and Deidara lifted himself up so Sasori could half roll over again. "He has. You would have happily slaughtered those Shadow Hunters when they tried to restrain you, but you didn't. You let the Vampire Council torture you and you let the Shadow Hunters torture you to protect him."

"You're jealous of him, un."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are," the blond growled in his ear. "You're jealous of both of us, un. Of him cause I like him more than I like you and I _want_ to be around him. You're jealous of me cause I get to have what you never can, un."

Sasori's fingers were around his neck before Deidara realized he had moved. They were half fallen from the bed, tangled in the blankets with Sasori's murderous eyes on him. "Do not assume things about me. I am still your Maker," the redhead whispered in a voice that sent chills down his spine.

"Would you have done it, Danna?" the blond choked out. He knew better than to fight Sasori when he was angry. It would only make it worse. "Share your soul with me… if you had known about it back then?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed as his hand squeezed harder. "It doesn't matter. It is impossible now, so why think about it? You know your place."

 _'Then why did you help us?'_ he asked against the door since he couldn't force any more air out to speak.

"The magic that would be used to separate you may have killed one of you. If it hadn't, they would have killed you anyway and you would have let them like a broken-hearted romantic. You could barely function yesterday because he was cut. Only I get to decide when your usefulness is over," Sasori reminded him, easing his grip on his throat. "That day has been looming closer since you met that human."

"He's got a name, un."

"I know his name," Sasori growled, standing up and walked towards the door. "Get up. We're going hunting."

"I want to stay with Itachi, un."

"No."

"Please? I'll stay here and protect him while you bring something back, un."

"No," the child vampire opened the door and walked naked through the silent living room to the master bedroom. Deidara tried to follow, but Sasori shut the door in his face and the blond had to resist the childish urge to bang on the door. What stopped him was that the brief moment it was open had shown Itachi's sleeping form on the bed and he didn't want to disturb him. He still could feel nothing form him, but the whole apartment smelled like his blood. He was so hungry. Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he was grateful Sasori knew him well enough to keep a leash on him right now. Sasori had taught many new and starving vampires how to feed safely in his long life.

"Sasori-danna," he whispered into the keyhole. On the other side, the murmuring conversation paused, indicating his Maker was listening. "The Master of Tokyo hates me, un. I can't hunt here."

The conversation within resumed and Deidara waited for Sasori to come back out again, fighting the urge to press his nose against the doors cracks to smell Itachi's blood that lingered in the air. Gritting his teeth, he began to pace in front of the door, holding his breath to stop himself. He was better than this. Just as his patience was beginning to run out, Sasori came out wearing a set of clothes Deidara kept in the room and threw a set at Deidara to put on.

"Is he okay?"

"Get dressed."

"Tell me, un!" Deidara demanded, throwing the clothes down on the ground.

Sasori gave him an imperious stare, then sighed and adjusted the sweater that was slightly too big for him. "Possibly," he said, then jabbed his finger at the clothes. He waited for Deidara to begin putting the clothes on before continuing, "he is still not awake. Tal believes this coma is from the magic of the blade the Shadow Hunter used. The magic shouldn't have hurt him, but just like his blood protects you from magic, your blood does the opposite. When you are back to your strongest, I'm sure he will be as well. In the meantime, I gave him more blood just in case. Again," he rolled his eyes dramatically, "incompetence." He walked to the door, muttering about how stupid the blond was.

"You what?" Deidara asked in a startled voice, tugging his head from his shirt and stared after him. Sasori ignored him as he sat down to pull his converses back on. He had given Itachi some of his own blood, too? Just to make sure he was safe? That they were safe? Sasori was lying when he claimed he didn't care; he had kept Deidara from hurting Itachi, he had given Itachi some of his blood to ensure his safety. Sasori used his strings to give him a yank towards the door and Deidara followed him. His mind was still tingling with Sasori's emotions swirling haphazardly together. It was hard to pinpoint anything passed the strongest: rage, exhaustion, and exasperation. He felt his frustration, and, now that they were doing something that would quell his hunger, he realized what he tasted earlier wasn't quite jealousy. Sasori was too old for such a simple word like jealousy. His Maker had stood before the Elder Council with Deidara's blood on his fingers. The only thing in this world he wanted. The only thing on the entire planet that would make him happy. All he had to do was put his fingers to his mouth, but instead he had given it to Itachi. The control he had exerted to not taste it himself was impressive, even though it would have caused very bad results. Makers couldn't feed off their Made. Sasori would have poisoned himself in front of enemies, reveal his weakness.

As they stood in the elevator, he noticed Sasori was staring at him with a look of annoyance and disgust. Deidara didn't have to ask to know it was because his expression had turned piteous – something Sasori had never appreciated – and quickly tried to cover it up. "The Master of the City hates me," he blurted out to distract him.

"Why?" Sasori asked, finally turning to stare at the door.

"Because I took Itachi without asking, un," he said, relieved Sasori wasn't going to beat him into a pulp. "But he never sent anyone to greet me. I wasn't even being sneaky, but he didn't send anyone to acknowledge me."

"Rude," Sasori grunted.

"Yeah, I thought so, too," the blond huffed. "So I went hunting without permission. But is it okay to hunt now?"

"I don't care," Sasori stated as the door opened. "You need to feed and I am not involved in the politics of your council."

Deidara grinned as he followed Itachi, wondering if he would get to see Sasori tear up the vampires here as he had the Hunters. If only they were in some remote area instead of the city where they could turn into monsters together and hunt without the danger of being discovered. Very little could hurt them here, but tipping the balance that the humans and non-humans had would not benefit them in the slightest. Especially not when the Hunters were as flustered as they left them. Hunting in a city was just another challenging game for them; one they embraced together fully and threw themselves out into the busy streets of Shibuya to hunt for a meal that would revive both of them, intent on returning as quickly as possible so the two humans were not left defenseless for long.


	30. The Puppet Master's Ploy

He was lost.

No.

No, that was wrong.

Not lost.

Not really.

That would imply that he had been going somewhere and lost his way. He knew exactly where he was and had no plans to go anywhere, really, but he couldn't get out. At the same time, he hadn't decided if he wanted to get out. What was out? This place was all he knew, and it was comfortable and quiet, but his mind was playing tricks on him. How could a room not have a door, but why did it matter if he didn't want to leave? It wasn't very scary though. He felt very relaxed. The quiet began to bother him. It was almost too quiet. When the quiet overwhelmed him, he began searching for the door. A room had a door, didn't it? How else would he have gotten in? Yet, he could never find it. Growing more and more frantic, he ran to every corner, felt along every wall, but there was no door to be found. He knew there was a door. This was a room; it had to have a door didn't it? A piece of paper with childish handwriting appeared taped to the wall. "wanna hear a joke? What is a room with no doors and no windows? Can you guess? It's a mushroom!" childish laughter echoed in the space as if he were hearing it from a long way away. He smiled, and the panic died away.

Not lost.

But there was something he was forgetting. Something was lost, even if it wasn't him, but he couldn't figure out what it was he had forgotten. He wandered to the window, placing his hand on the panel, but there was no temperature felt under his hand. The panels were black as though someone had spray painted their outer edges to prevent him from seeing out. Every so often there would be a shift in the color outside and little shapes moving across the darkness like electricity, so he knew it wasn't paint. Perhaps it was some living thing preventing him from looking outside. Perhaps there was no outside. What was 'outside'? Maybe outside was just a thing of dreams. This room was real, he could feel things in it, touch them, pick them up. Outside was just an illusion, so perhaps he should stop thinking about it.

But what was the thing he was forgetting.

Sitting on the floor, he looked around the room at all the items he couldn't quite focus on. Perhaps his vision was failing him. Where were his glasses? Did he wear glasses? He touched his face as if it would give him some clue and drew his knees to his chest feeling worried. How could he not know if he wore glasses?

Something appeared at his side, invisible, but he could feel it there and startled slightly. He felt something cool touching his arm, his chest and then his forehead. What was it. He rubbed his arms, trying to get the feeling to go away. And then something touched his lips and a strangeness hit him like a brick wall and he staggered back. It only lasted for a second, but the cold had vanished and his body was covered in goosebumps. He licked his lips, thinking he could taste something for a moment, but then it was gone and he was left trying to rub out the goosebumps.

On the large, heavy desk was a book that wasn't there a moment ago. Did it appear suddenly or had he simply not noticed it before? His confusion was making his head ache, but he still went over and picked up the book. It was thick and heavy, larger than any book he had ever held before. The cover seemed to be made of carved wood and embossed with leather pieces. He opened the stiff cover. The pages of the book started out crisp and white, but gradually became yellowed and softened towards the end of the book. There were no page numbers, and he began to count them. He had nearly reached the end of the book, but lost count around five thousand and decided he didn't care enough to begin again. Instead, he flipped through the pages. Some of the pages were full of tiny print, others had only a few words written on them in odd places on the page, but the majority of them, especially the newer looking pages at the beginning of the book, had ink so faded the page looked entirely blank.

He turned back to the first page and bet down so close his nose was nearly touching the page, but he couldn't read its contents. There was only the slightest change in the color of the whiteness that indicated something had been written there, but it was impossible to decipher. Each page afterwards was similar, but he found as he went, he was reading things. No, not reading things, he could smell heat. Some hot place, he could feel it on his skin. Some of the pages wouldn't turn as a single unit no matter how hard he tried to separate the pages and instead turned as clump. He turned to one page and as he scanned the nearly blank page, he felt anger and pain. There was a rage of abandonment and then terror. Absolutely inescapable horrors.

And then darkness.

Darkness?

He frowned, looking up from the book and staring at the wall across from him.

Darkness.

Not The Dark…

That reminded him of something, but he couldn't remember.

He quickly flipped through more of the pages, watching the pages growing older as if the content itself was growing older. He was near the middle of the book when the pages began to have more than a few lines of penmanship and in the last thousand pages there was at least one thing written on every page. One page was entirely dedicated to a wandering chicken that seemed to have fascinated the subject. He continued to the last few hundred pages and stopped on one and began to read, but it wasn't really reading. It was like observing a thought. No, not a thought. A memory.

He was sitting in a small basement room, crouched naked in a dirty bathtub with another body under him. It was a boy covered in filth and reeking of sewage. His fingers were covered in bubbles as he scrubbed and cleaned the bile off of it. It struggled faintly in his arms, but he was both too strong and the other was too weak. As slime finally gave way to skin, he pressed his nose against it and inhaled slowly. A wonderful smell overcame his senses. It was the smell of spring, damp earth and new grass, of wind and of fun. He had not known such smells could exist together in one person. He exhaled a word in a soft and tender voice. Soft because this boy tried to run away from him and he wanted him to stop. Tender because this was his favorite thing in the entire world. The word was the name he had given this boy. Love was not something he knew how to feel, but his affection for child was as close to love as he could get. A maddening obsession that drove him to take this boy far away where that creature could not find them again. That creature tried to take this away. That creature tried to kill the boy. Nothing in the world had ever made him happy until he had this and he deserved to be happy. What cruel, selfish being would even consider stopping him from having this. He ran his fingers over the now clean skin and nibbled at his ear gently as he had seen others do. It quivered and made a small noise in response. He broke the skin of his collarbone and felt the ambrosia fill his mouth and overwhelm his senses. He whispered the name he had given to him again.

Suddenly he stood up, stepping away from the book as his mind reeled.

The name.

The name.

That was important, what was the name? That was what he had forgotten!

What was it?

He stared at the book, wondering if he should keep reading, but something told him he already knew what happened next and he wasn't sure he could bare it again. But what _had_ happened next? These things seemed to be in the back of his mind, unable to bring them to the foreground to think. If only he could remember the name. Tentatively, he stepped forward and continued to read.

If he could cry, he would be in tears. Tears of terror; tears of heart wrenching pain. He retched and dry heaved until it felt as though his organs would be ejected through his mouth. It burned. It burned so badly, eating his throat, slicing his stomach. Why? Why? How could this happen to him? This was impossible. All he had wanted to do was make sure this boy could never leave him again. The only thing he had ever wanted. It was right there and he tried and tried again to take it and it happened over and over until his insides felt like shards of glass. His hands came up before he could stop himself, the whimper slipped out before he could pull it in. He wasn't such a child. Yes he was. He was a child. He was a small child and all he wanted was to be comforted. For someone to _fix_ this horrible mistake. But it couldn't be fixed. He crawled into the lap of the equally confused and now willing boy and tried and tried again to swallow the elixir, but the same result happened each time. He clung to him, crying tears that didn't fall. Torture. Absolute torture. Agony like he had never felt before ripped through him physically and mentally. He didn't know how to handle this and let the boy try to comfort him to no avail. He didn't know how to be comforted. He always got what he wanted and now he could no longer have it. The world was at his finger tips and the only thing on the entire planet he ever wanted was before him and he could never have it again.

The name.

What was the boy's name?

It was important, he knew. What was it?

He looked up from the book, filled with the terrible sense of heartbreak it left him and turned to stare out the black windows. A new feeling washed over him and he realized he didn't know how long he had been sitting in this room, or how long he had been looking at this book. He thought of the weak and scared little boy in the bathtub. The boy gave him a sense of warmth that had nothing to do with the memories of the book. What had he forgotten?

It was important. So important, but this room. This room was reality. Nothing existed outside this room, so why was this bothering him so much? He reached out and picked up the book, clutching it tightly and willed it to give him the answer that plagued him.

The name.

The name.

What was it…?

Deidara.

"Deidara!" Itachi's eyes flew open and he sat up with gasp, crying out in pain as he did so and startled the person sitting near him. The muscles of his chest clenched painfully and he fell to the side, holding it as though it would help relieve the pain. He heard a voice calling him and fought through the fog and noise of his head to find it. He knew this voice. This was a good voice, but how could it be here?

"Tal?" he murmured, cracking his eyes open again.

Dark features stared down at him, full of concern and relief. "Yes," he replied, placing his cool hands on his hot skin. "How are you feeling? You've been unconscious for quite a while.

"Where am I? What are you doing here?" he asked instead. "Where's Deidara?" He tried to sit up again, heart pounding as he spoke the name he had nearly forgotten again.

Tal's hands were form as they guided him back onto the bed, replacing a pillow so that he could sit up a little. "Deidara is out hunting with Sasori," he told him, placing a cool, damp cloth on his forehead. the coolness was a temporary relief and made Itachi realize he had a horrible migraine and was covered in sweat. "Here," he handed him a glass of water which Itachi sipped as Tal began adjusting the rest of his pillows to make him comfortable. "You are in Deidara's apartment," he told him.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi asked in confusion.

As he sat down in the stuffed chair he had set up next to the bed, he folded his hands together and began in a voice that was slow and soft so it wouldn't hurt his head, "Sasori brought me. You and Deidara were on trial with the Elder Council. One of the Shadow Hunters tried to kill Deidara and you saved Deidara by taking the blade yourself." Itachi looked down at his bare torso, touching the faint scar by his ribs that still ached a little. "There was magic on the blade," Tal explained, watching him. "It won't heal anymore physically, even with Sasori's blood."

"S—Sasori's blood?" he stammered, looking up to stare at his friend. "Sasori gave me his blood." His hand came up to touch his lips with a slight tremor. The book in his mind. The memories. Those were Sasori's memories. Of course it had manifested as a book in his mind space. Each page representing a year of Sasori's long life. How many pages had there been? How many faded memories were written on each page? He could barely remember now, but the feelings it left him clutched at his insides like glue.

"Yes," Tal was saying. "I think he gave some to Deidara as well, but I have been in here with you and he stayed with Deidara in the other room. He is a very strange vampire. I guess he wanted to make sure you both were alright before letting either of you out of his sights."

"They're coming back now," Itachi said suddenly, glancing over at the door as though the two would burst in.

Tal leaned forward with a smile. "Can you hear Deidara again?" he asked. "Deidara was very scared because you were gone from his mind when you were unconscious. I think it was the magic."

"Yes," he swallowed. "He's there again." A smile crossed his lips as he closed his eyes. Deidara had dropped everything he was doing when he felt him wake up. Itachi could nearly hear Sasori failing to hold him back from returning. "How long was I unconscious for?"

"Around fourteen hours," Tal explained. "Sasori had us bring you here to Deidara's place and told me not to check into a hotel."

Itachi looked around the room, recognizing it easily now. "This is where Deidara took me the first time we met," he commented softly. That had been such a frightening experience.

"Itachi?"

The hesitation in his voice yanked him out of his memories. "Yes?" he asked, watching the man in the chair stare at his shoulder instead of his face.

"Sasori said…" he began softly, then swallowed. It was clear he had been resisting the urge to ask; waiting as he lay unconscious to ask. "You… you saw Kali?"

"Yes," Itachi repeated, turning to face him excitedly. "I saw her when I was on the train going to China."

"How was she?" he asked next, leaning forward a little.

"Hungry," he answered, then corrected himself. "But otherwise she was fine. She was still fighting the poison and wanted to try to feed on me to test her control because I was alone, but when she saw that I belonged to Deidara she stopped. I asked her if she was Kali and she almost attacked Kisame, but I told her about you and she stopped to ask questions about you."

Relief seemed to crush the Indian man as he exhaled slowly. "She remembers me…"

"Of course, she does," Itachi said without any hesitation. "Just hearing your name made her happy. She misses you very much."

"Sasori came to me in Rome a few days ago," Tal explained. "The Vampire Court was beside itself because Sasori had never come to that place before. He said he needed me to request a meeting with the Elder Council in Japan. Kali … she was once the liaison between the Elder Council and the Vampire Court, so I could make that kind of request as her Human Servant—"

"Silluetu," Itachi interrupted.

"Sorry?"

"I was told that the old word for what we are is 'silluetu' which means 'soul-sharer', though I don't know what language. I think it sounds less demeaning than 'Human Servant'," Itachi explained. "Sorry for interrupting."

"That is interesting," Tal commented with a smile. "I will try to implement it. As her Silluetu, I could make the request. Sasori was certain that Japan would be the most convenient place to catch up with the Elder Council because Vampires are completely barred from entering the city in which the Elder Council nearly always resides. While we were flying there, he told me that he thought you or Deidara had run into Kali and that I should finally challenge them for their crime."

"What happened?" Itachi asked.

"Disgruntled would be a good word to describe the moment," Tal replied with a small grin. "Sasori gave them three days to bring us the antidote for the poison and to investigate your family's death." His hands clenched so hard they shook, and Itachi looked away, too embarrassed by the display of emotion to watch him. He was thinking of Kali coming back and it was such an overwhelming emotion it seemed too private to even speak while his friend was experiencing it.

He was spared the temptation to say something by the door flying open and something heavy flung itself onto the bed, crawling up his legs to cling to him with a crushing grip. He choked and tried to free his arms, but to no avail. "Deidara," he gasped, "I can't breathe." The grip was lessened slightly, but Deidara didn't raise his face from where it was pressed into his stomach.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Sasori demanded from the doorway looking extremely pissed off and windblown from his chase. "Are you such a child?"

Deidara didn't answer or move from his position so Itachi gave the redhead an apologetic look and placed his hand on top of Deidara's head to awkwardly pat him. He wasn't very good at showing affection, especially in front of people. The blond couldn't even form a coherent sentence to send to him, so all he got were waves of relief and happiness as he gushed babble into their minds with such rapidity that Itachi couldn't even respond back. Overwhelmed by Deidara's affectionate relief, he could only smile and pat him on the head.

"I'll leave you two alone," Tal said, breaking the awkward silence as he stood. "It has been quite a while." He smiled again and nodded to Itachi before stepping around Sasori to leave the room.

Itachi waited for Sasori to leave as well, but the redhead just stood there staring blankly at the two of them. When Itachi stared back, the vampire frown and gave him a questioning look as though Itachi had been the one rudely staring. "What?"

"Thank you for making sure I was okay," he replied softly.

"It wasn't for you," the vampire sniffed, turning his nose up haughtily.

Itachi smiled at him and looked down at the top of Deidara's head for a moment. "I know," he said, looking up in time to see the haughty expression change to aggravation.

"What?" the vampire demanded defensively, glaring at him. "What did you see?"

"Nothing, it's not important," the brunette said softly, focusing on the top of Deidara's head. His hair was dirty and needed to be washed, still covered in dirt and dried with his own blood from the Shadow Hunter's prison; his own was probably filthy as well. He knew better than to face Sasori and challenge him to any kind of staring contest. The redhead wasn't a wolf, or a hunter, or a human. He felt his amber eyes burning into his forehead before Sasori scoffed and turned away from him.

"Deidara," Sasori stated in such a firm voice the blond flinched. Sasori waited until Deidara shifted just slightly to look back at him. "I have business to attend to," he stated, then gave Deidara such a long firm look that conveyed a lot of things he didn't feel like stating. "When I return, we are going out again. You," he said looking up at Itachi, "should stay here. There are Shadow Hunters pretending to be humans watching the apartment." He looked down warningly at Itachi then slammed the door behind himself.

Itachi wondered if the look was meant to convey Sasori's uncertainty of Deidara's control yet and to let him know that he would stop him if Deidara lost control. Finally, he placed his hand on the blond's shoulder and rubbed it gently. Without lifting his head, Deidara crawled up to nuzzle his nose into the curve of his neck, still clinging to him as if he would never let him go. Itachi wasn't sure he wanted him to anyway.

"Are you alright?" the blond finally whispered.

"Yes."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I'm fine. You can check if you want," Itachi mumbled, but Deidara didn't move to do so. Itachi could tell he was holding his breath as well so as not to tempt himself with his scent. He patted his shoulder again and Deidara moved one of his hands to lightly touch the new scar that sent a shiver down his spine. He had been so close to death. "It doesn't hurt," Itachi assured him. "It's healed. Sasori told Tal that he thinks it might not heal like other wounds because of the magic."

The blond nodded against his shoulder and remained silent, his fingers tracing the scare than reached to gently feel over his exposed body to search for any other damages. Itachi held still for him while he did so, finding the same comfort Deidara was feeling at being able to be close again. The last time they had been in this room, it had been a terrifying experience, but that was a long time ago. A life time it seemed. He was a different person than the one Deidara had brought here.

"Deidara?"

"Hm?"

"I need to take a shower," Itachi said quietly. "I feel a little disgusting and I haven't washed my hair in a while."

The blond lifted his head up and gave him a lopsided grin that wasn't quite his usual smirk, but close to it. "I haven't showered since I left home, un," he countered, pushing his nose up against Itachi's lightly. Itachi smiled and tilted his head so their foreheads lightly bumped and Deidara seemed to visibly relax from it. He had never felt so terrified for someone else, Itachi reasoned. But he was fine. Deidara was fine. And he hoped that they would be able to go home soon.

At last, Deidara slid off the bed and picked Itachi up before the brunette could try to stand up. He protested, but the vampire ignored him and carried him into the bathroom and set the water to filling the tub. While they waited, they sat on the floor and scrubbed themselves and their hair clean of grim and blood before rinsing themselves off and sliding into the hot water to soak. Itachi hadn't soaked in a bathtub this size in quite some time and found himself missing his claw foot tub at home. Deidara must still feel a little shaken after almost losing him for he was being strangely tame and not annoying playful as they leaned back facing one another.

"What happened?" Itachi asked quietly, knowing the blond would understand what he was referencing.

Deidara rest his head back against the tub and stretched his legs out next to Itachi's. "You borrowed some of my strength and speed, un," he explained.

"How?"

"I don't know," Deidara shrugged, making small waves with the movements. He watched them and made some more for his own entertainment. "You should ask Tal to do it, un. Sasori can do it to his Made like all Makers can, but I don't know how it's done. Tal could do it from Kali, but I never asked how they did it, un."

"Oh…" Itachi tried to recall the exact moment, but it was difficult. Everything was fuzzy and dark after he turned to see the Shadow Hunter pull his knife out. "I just remember seeing that Shadow Hunter about to kill you and panicked. I don't know what I did."

"Sasori killed him," Deidara giggled, a manic grin spreading across his face. "He threw a spear all the way from the top of the stairs and pinned him through his head, un! You should have seen their faces. He made the corpse stand up and they all shit their pants, un! There was blood everywhere."

"When can we go home?" Itachi asked softly, changing the subject. The delight on Deidara's face when he talked about the dead Shadow Hunter was disturbing.

It took a moment for the look to die away, a chaotic madness pulled from the anger of being tortured. "I don't know," he finally answered when it finally left his face. "Sasori gave the Hunters three days to come to their conclusion. Let's just relax and… and eat and sleep, un."

"You can't sleep," Itachi reminded him, almost apologetically.

Deidara flicked water lightly at him. "You know what I mean. You sleep, and I watch you, un," he grinned as Itachi looked a little ruffled and slipped deeper into the water. "I need to get you fed. Get a good nights sleep. New clothes," the blond muttered quietly to himself, pushing his bangs off his face entirely, which made him look even younger than normal. Itachi watched him with a frown, realizing the blond was working himself up again.

"I'm fine, Deidara," Itachi assured him, but the vampire wasn't listening.

"Straight to bed," he continued in a mumble, starting his list over again. "And then we'll get you food, because you need it badly and get you some new clothes because you have none and when we get back I will redo the barrier so no one can hurt you again and then –"

"Deidara," Itachi caught his attention by leaning forward, stopping the other end of Deidara's chaotic madness that caused panic. "I am fine," he said slowly and firmly. "We will be fine. You don't have to rush everything, we only just got out of there."

Deidara made a soft unhappy noise, but crawled over to curly up on top of his lap. Itachi felt him take a tempting inhale and tried not to move, but the blond changed the subject to distract himself from his hunger. "What was Sasori talking about? See what?"

"Tal said Sasori gave me his blood… The magic had made me kind of … stuck in my mind space," he explained. "My mind space is a library, so the memories that came with Sasori's blood appeared in the form of a book and it was … I think it was Sasori's entire life. It was such a big book, I tried to count the pages, but lost count after …five thousand, I think… Do you think Sasori is really over five thousand years old?" Deidara raised and dropped a shoulder. "I read some of it and I saw some things that he could remember. Things from really far back were very blurry, sometimes blank cause he couldn't remember that far. I think I found when he was changed. He told me the last thing he remembered as a human was darkness… It was strange because he was terrified, but couldn't remember enough to know why… I found the night he changed you. I had felt it before, because he wanted me to see it, but I actually experienced the memory as he did this time."

"Oh," Deidara whispered after a moment's silence, shifting a little uncomfortably.

"It was terrible," Itachi whispered back, his arms wrapping around Deidara as though to comfort the terrified child he had seen. "Do you remember it?"

"Yes… It's the one thing Sasori doesn't want me to remember, so I keep accidentally getting reminded of it, un," Deidara told him, staring down at the water's surface. "Ah… Don't let Sasori know you know, un. He's real touchy about it."

Itachi squeezed him tightly. Remnants of the heartbreak he felt through Sasori still clung to him like the sludge that riddled Deidara's mind. "He loved you," he stated quietly, then corrected himself, "he treasured you."

Deidara gave a startled laugh that sounded uncomfortable. "No, he didn't," he sputtered.

"Yeah, he did… in his own way," Itachi replied, feeling stupid for the way the words had come out. "I could feel how he felt because it was his blood. And when he couldn't taste it anymore…"

The vampire in his lap gave a grunt of acknowledgement. "Just don't let him know, okay? He gets—"

The bathroom door opened with a slow and ominous creak, startling them both. Sasori stared down his nose at them and they froze as if they had been doing something wrong. Itachi was grateful Deidara was sitting on top of him, keeping his naked body covered. "Enjoying your bath?" Sasori question casually.

"Yup," Deidara replied in a fair imitation of his own casual voice.

"We were not finished hunting," Sasori told them. "Now."

"I ate enough," Deidara huffed, lounging back in the tub with his legs hanging over the side. Unlike his human, Deidara was not modest. Though Itachi supposed that after three hundred years, a person may just be that comfortable with themselves. Or maybe Deidara was just weird. "Go away, Danna. We're allowed to talk to you behind your back, un. And I don't want to hunt anymore."

"When Itachi is sleeping in the bed and you get overwhelmed by his scent and begin to drain him without questioning what you're doing," Sasori began, his eyebrow lifting slightly. "Perhaps I won't stop you. Perhaps I'll turn him just before you kill him."

"Don't even joke about that, un!" Deidara raged, scrambling to get up, but Itachi, who was not too keen about being exposed, held onto Deidara's sides to keep him on his lap. "If you come anywhere near Itachi, I swear I'll rip your fucking head off, un!"

"Ho?" Sasori crooned, smirking down at him. "I wonder what would happen to your souls if I did change him? Do you think he could survive the change? It'd be an interesting experiment."

"No, it wouldn't, un!" Deidara shouted back. "Get out!"

"You get out," Sasori snapped at him. "Now," he added before shutting the door again.

"Goddamn it! I swear, I'll—"

"It's okay, Deidara," Itachi said soothingly, trying to calm him down. "I would feel better if you go back to being one hundred percent. Tal and I can get food while you're gone." When Deidara spun around to throw his rage at him instead, Itachi held his hands up defensively. "I mean request delivery! We won't leave the mansion, I promise."

The blond gave a deep growl in the back of his throat, drumming his fingers on the edge of the tub. He was trying to decide whether or not he could disobey Sasori's command to come, knowing he was right, but not wanting to leave Itachi behind. His heaving sigh told Itachi that Sasori had won.

"I'll be back when the sun comes up, un," he muttered unhappily. "Sasori will drag us both out if I don't come now." Heaving yet another sigh, Deidara crawled lazily out of the bathtub and practically slithered out the bathroom dragging water behind him. Itachi could hear Sasori complaining loudly for him to get up and act like a person and not a worm. He smiled over the blond's splinter-painful ways of getting under his Maker's skin. He leaned back in the hot bath water and closed his eyes. He was tired. As much as he wanted to be close to Deidara again, he knew the blond needed to feed and he himself needed to eat. He wasn't desperate; he could wait a few more hours until Deidara returned.

The following afternoon, Deidara's eyes snapped open, his senses flaring at the sudden shift in the building's air. Itachi's sleeping face was inches from his own, lips parted ever so slightly from the relaxed muscles of his face. When he had returned, just before the sun rose, Tal and Itachi had finished their sukiyaki they had delivered and were waiting for them. Bellies full, Deidara and Itachi had crawled into bed with the heavy blankets cocooning them in psychological security. Itachi fell asleep quickly; Deidara wished he could sleep as well, but instead he drifted in a state of nothing with his human, catching little bits that slipped through in his dreams. Some were not pleasant. It would take them a long while to fully recover from this and it still wasn't over. This was Day Two. Either tonight or tomorrow the Hunters would come – or send someone in their stead. Regardless of their decision on whether to agree to the terms, they would come. Because Sasori had commanded them and everyone obeyed Sasori whether they wanted to or not.

Itachi stirred in his sleep, but didn't awaken, dreams too entertaining to leave. He sensed the change as well, but felt no danger from it. The blond waited, listening to the machinery working in the depths of the tall building until the elevator chimed quietly on his own floor. Sliding out from the blankets carefully so as no to disturb Itachi, he dressed in a pair of cargo pants and slipped out into the living room where Sasori sat comfortably on the sofa watching television. The sun was high in the sky, but they had both fed enough that it didn't touch them as painfully, and Deidara benefited from his connection to Itachi that allowed him to move his dead body in the daylight. The world was dull and dead to him. Only Itachi was clear and alive to him, but he was safe in the other room.

"Hey Sasori-danna?"

Sasori gave a soft grunt to show the blond had his attention.

"When I was human, did you see me clearly during the day, or did I look dead like everything else?"

The redhead didn't move his gaze from the screen, but there was a barely visible shift in his muscles. Deidara couldn't tell if he was ignoring him or thinking. Before he could get his answer, a knock sounded at his door and when Sasori didn't movie, Deidara went to answer it.

"Jasper?" he started.

The Alpha werewolf gave him a welcoming smile as he looked down at the blond with three other wolves behind him. "Hallo, Deidara," he greeted, his deep voice rumbling. "Sasori asked me to come."

"Oh," he said, trying to appear as if he knew that already. "Right. Come in."

They nodded and entered the apartment together. The mansion itself was rather large, but with the huge werewolves in it, it suddenly appeared much smaller. Jasper and his Beta sat down on the sofa diagonal from Sasori while Rose's mother and another male wolf stood behind them. Everyone had their eyes on Sasori, but the redhead patiently waited for everyone to become slightly uncomfortable by the silence before he turned his attention from the cartoon on the television. He surveyed the wolves before crossing his legs in a casual business manner. To the unknowing eye, he looked as though the sun didn't bother him at all, but Deidara knew otherwise as he sat down next to him. His eyes weren't completely focused.

"I think you should repay Deidara's generosity," he said coolly, an entirely awkward way to start a conversation. Deidara's lip twitched a little. Sasori was always so blunt.

"Yes, you said that over the phone," Jasper said, just as relaxed. It was a ploy. He was irritated and agitated, but didn't want to give Sasori the pleasure of knowing that. Deidara watched their exchange with interest. He knew the werewolves didn't like Sasori as the redhead happily terrorized them in October, but the idea of a business transaction made them civil, or maybe Jasper was just interested in what he had to say.

"The opportunity has recently presented itself," Sasori stated. "I would like for you to speak to the Alphas of the packs here in Tokyo and ask that they send any member of their packs who were alive ten years ago. I would ask them myself, but I don't know how the relationship between the wolves and vampires are here."

Jasper's werewolves exchanged glances with one another before while their Alpha considered Sasori's words before he turned to address Deidara. "Please explain to me what is going on," he said. "What happened at the castle and where you have been?"

Deidara tucked his legs underneath himself. Unlike his maker, he was not as skilled at hiding his day time weaknesses and needed the extra support to stay upright. "Kit set up the ambush and invited the Hunters onto the grounds. She wanted them to separate Itachi and myself out of jealousy and granted the permission to access the barrier to kidnap Itachi while I was imprisoned, un. She's been dealt with."

"We saw." A flickering glance at Sasori.

"Itachi is the child of a family of Hunters here in Japan that were supposed to have made a deal with a demon for power that went wrong and lead to the family being slaughtered around ten years ago," Sasori stated. "That is a lie, apparently."

"What does that have to do with the packs in Tokyo?"

"The Uchihas were attempting to form a treaty with the paranormal beings living around them. We cannot ask the vampires here for multiple reasons. One is that Deidara is exceptionally good at making enemies –"

"The first lesson taught to me by my Maker," Deidara grinned, ignoring the irritated expression from Sasori who absolutely hating being interrupted.

"The second is that the vampire who is Master of Tokyo at the time is no longer alive," Sasori continued tersely. "Even if there was a vampire who was alive then and remembered the Uchihas, they wouldn't come forward without consulting the new Master, who – as I said – is not fond of Deidara and would lie for a grudge."

"I see," Jasper murmured, folding his hands together in thought. "We will speak to the Alphas here and try to get them to come speak to you."

"Good," Sasori said in a satisfied voice as he settled back against the sofa.

Deidara stared at Sasori. "You're a genius," he commented under his breath.

The redhead's face grew indecently smug. "Yes, I know," he replied.

"It's like you know all of this beforehand, un."

"I didn't."

"You came up with all of this in one night?"

"Not everyone is as incompetent as you are."

Deidara glared at him, not having the energy to fight with him with the sun so high. Instead, he let his temper simmer down and turn to face the werewolves. "Itachi is sleeping, but he'll want to know when he wakes up. How's Rose? And the other pups?"

The smiles that passed across all four faces were genuine and soft. Jasper glanced back at Dahlia and gave a small gesture. "She and the other pups are all well, thanks to him taking the time to make sure they made it out while we were fighting the Shadow Hunters," she told him. "If he has time, she would love to receive a message from him. She and the others have been worried about him. They're all quite fond of him."

"He's good at making friends," Deidara commented fondly.

"Shocking, since he never leaves the library."

"Shut up, Danna."

"Your humans are safe," Jasper told Deidara. "Sam was able to escape and alerted Chloe Engel who reengaged her magic barrier and forced the attackers off the ground. Wes was protected by that old tree in the grounds."

Deidara glanced away guiltily at the following pause.

"You did not mention the tree was magical," he commented, a smile on the corners of his lips but his voice was icy. "The one the _children_ play in all the time."

Deidara cleared his throat. "In my defense," he began sheepishly, "I thought the tree was dormant. If it protected Wes, it's because he has an affinity for nature. Almost like he's fae, but he's not." Sasori muttered something under his breath about Itachi being proof Deidara's nose was broken. "He told me the tree adored children, so I don't think it would have hurt them."

Jasper gave a soft grunt, but didn't comment further. "We lost one of ours," he said, his eyes dark in grief. "It is a great loss, but he died bravely and was avenged. Kit," he clenched his jaw slightly, then continued, "granted us permission to build a pyre for him on the grounds."

"That is fine," Deidara said shortly. "I am sorry that your friend has stopped hunting."

Jasper gave him a grateful nod of his head at the werewolf saying, then rose to his feet, his second standing as well. "I will go and speak to the Alphas and try to find your witnesses," he told them. "I know it's day and you must be tired. We will return when the sun sets. I am glad you are well, Deidara. We were worried about both of you."

The blond grinned crookedly and nodded back. "I will be happy to repay you for your travel and your hotel fees. When this is over, I will be readjusting the protections," he assured him. "I apologize for causing you this trouble." Sasori gave a roll of his eyes at the formalities, but the wolves nodded to him and left the apartment, closing the door behind him. In the silence, Deidara raised his nose and gave a sniff of the air, casting his senses around the apartment. Tal was sleeping in the study. Satisfied, the blond went into the kitchen to heat up a blood packet he and Sasori had stolen from a local hospital, downing it quickly and returned to the bedroom to crawl under the blankets with Itachi.

He was just getting settled with Itachi's arm around his waist when he felt the bed shift and noticed Sasori lying down on Itachi's other side. "What are you doing?" he demanded in a hiss, trying not to wake Itachi, but failing as he pushed himself up slightly.

"Resting."

"There's another bedroom, un!"

"This one is nicer."

Itachi stirred as Deidara maneuvered their once perfectly constructed blanket cocoon so that he was in between Itachi and danger. The brunette cracked and eye open to look at him, but the blond murmured soft reassurances in his mind and he closed it again, drifting back to sleep.

"I have very little room now," Sasori complained into the silence.

"You are a very little person, un," Deidara countered, adjusting the blankets to ensure Sasori had none. He shifted just slightly to fit his body back against Itachi's and relaxed into the warmth he gave off. Itachi stirred again, but it was only to shift comfortably against him as well. His human woke just enough to comment mind-to-mind on Sasori's growing aggravation, but Deidara grinned and shushed him.

 _'Was that Jasper?'_ Itachi muttered quietly to him. He was so tired, his voice slurred in exhaustion even mentally. _'Is Rose okay?'_

 _'Yes, and yes,'_ Deidara told him. ' _Sasori is planning something. The Hunters will be arriving some time tonight or tomorrow.'_

 _'Do you need to feed?'_ Itachi murmured. _'I think I'm okay enough if you want.'_

Deidara smiled happily and pressed his nose against Itachi's shoulder. _'Don't tempt me, un~ I want you to be completely back to normal before we start playing again.'_

"Will you two shut the fuck up," Sasori said, looming over Deidara's shoulder. "I can practically hear you speaking to one another. I've done more than either of you deserve so you should start thanking me by shutting the fuck up."

Deidara started to turn around and tell his Maker off, but Itachi's hand reached over and gave Sasori a gently pat on the head, mussing his hair up so that it stuck out at odd angles more than usual before, then, with a sleepy sigh, returned to wrap around Deidara's torso. Both vampires froze in a state of shock, so much so that Sasori laid back down and stared at the ceiling without another word. Deidara looked back at his human and chuckled quietly to see that he had fallen back into a deep sleep. Worries temporarily forgotten by Itachi treating Sasori like a small child, he let his mind drift into a state of nothingness, the closest he could get to sleeping in his undead body. When they rose, they would have to deal with werewolves and Hunters and if the vampires got wind of this, the evening would not be very restful at all.

The sun finally clawed its way downward, Itachi stretched his legs out with a relaxed sigh and rolled away from him. Deidara adjusted his position to rest his cheek against his chest, rising and falling as Itachi breathed. It was a small moment of peace, fifty deep inhales from Itachi before the air in the building changed again and Itachi opened his eyes.

"They're here," he whispered to him.


	31. Meetings for Peace

Sasori should have thought out his choice of rendezvous better; Deidara's mansion was not made to host as many people as it was currently being made to. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if the guests were collectively of smaller stature, but that wasn't the case. Werewolves are notoriously large, and even the smaller ones naturally put out an aura of being bigger and tougher than they appeared. Pack dynamics made this tolerable, but there were three packs in the room. Jasper and his three, two men from the pack that lived closer to the Narita area and two women from the Kanagawa pack. The vampires had indeed caught wind of the events as vampires tend to and the Master of the City had sent two of them to represent him and bring back gossip. Then there were the six Hunters, a pair of Elders, an anxious looking pair of young Hunters, and Vivitsu and Kisame. Twenty people in total.

There weren't enough seats for everyone, but Sasori had probably known that would happen and didn't care. Though they had arrived early, Sasori didn't permit the vampires to sit since they had invited themselves. The two Child Vampires sat, looking entirely out of place among the larger adults. Itachi and Tal sat on either side of them on the larger couch that better faced the door. Itachi was sitting up very attentively, his eyes moving to each face; Deidara wondered what he was thinking about, but his human was keeping his thoughts to himself. To their left sat Jasper, lounging in a non-aggressive way that probably helped the wolves next to him relax. They were older members of their respective packs, but, according to Jasper's intel, not very high ranking. Their Alphas had sent them with their Thirds, the Narita pack's Third was a soft looking man with a short beard while the Kanagawa pack was an athletic female with her hair trimmed short and pushed off her face. Of the Hunters, only the two Elders sat on the smaller sofa across from the vampires, their hands folded in their laps. Itachi informed him that they were the Hunter pair that had led him to the Elder Council trial, a Warrior man and Scholar woman.

Sasori again had them all sitting in uncomfortable silence for his own amusement, but Deidara wasn't going to allow him to control the situation entirely.

"Thank you all for coming, un," Deidara said, crossing his legs while grinning lopsidedly at them all.

"There are more of you than we were expecting," one of the standing Hunters complained.

"I said I would find witnesses," Sasori murmured. "There was supposed to be more, but the coven that lived in Tokyo has since moved to Nara."

"And they weren't invited," Deidara announced, pointing rudely at the other vampires standing against the dark window. "If they do anything out of turn, I'll kill 'em for you, un!"

The two vampires began to protest venomously, but at the quelling looks from both Deidara and Sasori, they stopped. "You could have made them leave their weapons at the door," one of the vampires growled.

"If you want that, I'll help you leave your fangs at the door too," Deidara sneered.

"We appreciate your fairness," the female Elder said, probably able to see the pissing match that was liable to arise between vampires. "Am I correct in assuming that these two werewolves are your witnesses? Those who knew the Uchihas?"

"Yes," Sasori stated.

She swept her gaze over them in a critical, but non-aggressive manner. Her eyes briefly rested on Jasper and his wolves behind him, standing just outside of the inner circle and very obviously not Japanese, then spoke in polite Japanese. "You were present in your packs before the deaths of the Uchihas?" she asked them.

The man nodded. "We were," he replied. "Both of us, though we are from different packs."

"And you remember the Uchihas?"

"Yes," he replied. "We all knew of the Uchihas. They were an old and respected Shadow Hunter family, but they were different. Our packs had a lot of tension over territories – I had only met Kotoki," he gestured to the woman next to him, "once before and it had been a fight between our packs. The Uchihas came to us wanting to negotiate a peace treaty, one that spanned across many species. We met with many others and it helps ease that tension greatly."

"They were planning a treaty between Shadow Hunters and werewolves?" she asked.

"Not only with werewolves," he replied.

"Demons?"

The wolves blinked and looked at one another, but it was the woman, Kotoki, who spoke. "There were never any demons at the meetings the Uchihas hosted. There were wolves, vampires, a witch coven, and a few fae, but never a demon. Many of us believed demons to be things of legend, until the massacre."

"We could do nothing," the other explained gravely, his fingers lacing together. "We were too far away to offer them aid when the attack occurred and by the time we received word, the Uchihas were all dead and the Shadow Hunters had arrived on the scene."

"Not all of them are dead," Itachi spoke up in a soft voice. They turned to look at him and he gave a soft smile. "I am Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto's son."

"Are you really?" Kotoki breathed, her nose twitching slightly to sniff him a little.

"Yes," he replied. "I was found and raised by humans until I met Deidara."

"Uchiha Mikoto warned us the dangers they faced in attempting to be the forebearers of peace and the possibility of judgement by the other Shadow Hunters," the man stated. "The idea that the Hunters would be willing to kill off an entire family. Werewolves are so group oriented, we didn't know what to do. We were unable to bring out the truth in public for fear of our own packs safeties and allowed the lie to grow," he turned apologetically to Itachi and bowed his head. "But we have kept the peace between us, as your family wished."

Itachi gave a nod of thanks, then looked over at the two Elders who sat in silence, their faces almost entirely unreadable as they listened to the wolves speaking. Deidara glanced sideways at Itachi and saw a curiously puzzled expression appear on his face. He looked at each Hunter, assessing them individually. His eyes lingered on Kisame who gave a slight raise of his eyebrow. He apparently saw something that Deidara hadn't noticed and seemed to conclude something in his thoughts because he inhaled softly and shifted a little in his seat but remained silent. Sasori seemed to notice the same thing Itachi did.

"You two," the redhead said to the vampires. "Leave. And tell your Master to leave mine alone."

"No," they replied aggressively. "We are just as welcome to this meeting as—"

Sasori raised his hand to them. The smell of blood filled the room as one of the vampires twisted and tore off his own hand and used the fingers of that hand to gauge into his eyes and crush the front of his skull and rip his head off his body. Deidara gave a little giggle as the vampire's companion bolted out of the room, using the stairs instead of the elevator for fear of Sasori's rebuke. Sasori looked at Deidara, seeming pleased by his reaction.

"I have heard many stories about you, Akasuna Sasori," the male Elder murmured in the silence that followed, gripping his staff tightly. "They fall short in comparison to the real thing."

His Maker looked smug as he lowered his hand back into his lap. "What is wrong?" Itachi asked, shattering the mixture of delight and terror in the room before Sasori was able to speak. He was looking at the Elders intently as though he was attempting to will the answer from them. Or maybe he was trying to avoid looking at the blood on the ground.

The younger Hunters bristled. "He just mutilated—"

"No," Itachi interrupted one of the younger Hunters. He looked embarrassed to suddenly have everyone's attention on him, but Deidara gave him a little nudge with his elbow and even Sasori turned to face him. Sitting up straight again, he looked the woman in the eye. "Please tell us."

"Something you don't want such hostile creatures to hear?" Sasori suggested in a soft murmur, startling Itachi out of his gaze.

 _'Can he read my mind?'_ he asked Deidara in alarm.

 _'No, he's just observant and perceptive, un.'_

"What happened?" Itachi asked the Elders directly.

The woman exchanged a glance with her partner and he reached into his pocket and took out a small glass vile with a wax sealed stopper. She took it from him and gave Tal a long look before handing it to Kisame who moved around the sofa to give it to the Indian man. "Kali was a fine woman," she said to him. "We had many fond conversations when I was a young Scholar in training. I did not want to think that she had lost herself. This vile contains our strongest antidote. The cowardly poison that was used against Kali is not our strongest, so this will reverse the effects of the poison induced Bloodstarved state."

"Thank you," Tal replied, cradling the treasure tenderly. Deidara gave Sasori a dark look when he noticed the redhead eyeing the bottle with curious hunger. Sasori noticed and returned the look before turning back to the Elders.

"The two of you has caused quite a disturbance in the Court," she told Itachi and Deidara. "We attempted to discuss investigating your claims – your argument for our consideration was sound; if we want to see you as a Shadow Hunter, we must investigate your claims. The Mage Council argued differently and refused to allow themselves to be investigated which has, in short, created the sparks for a civil war. The Shadow Hunters are divided, there are those who want to simply ignore what has happened – they don't consider you a valuable enough asset. Some believe that laws are in place for a reason, and that there are those of us in power making decisions without control – the divisions of the Elder Council are supposed to be a representation of each branch of the Shadow Hunters, we make decisions as a three-part unit not each unit on its own."

Her partner gave a nod with his eyes downcast. "We are not to be more powerful than we are whole," he stated, then looked up at the vampires across from them. "We thank you for turning away the vampires; I know the new Master of Tokyo to be warmongering. They would use it as an opportunity to attack those not involved – those not consciously involved," he amended.

"How will this affect us?" the male Third questioned.

"There won't be anyone to keep vindictive Hunters at bay," the woman next to him replied. "As little as control it had been before."

"Indeed," the Elder Warrior murmured. "As we age, we forget that we can be blinded by power and purpose. We were blind to our friends and what they had done to destroy your family, Itachi. An apology is too small a thing to give to you for what has been done. I hope that your family may now rest in peace."

"You aren't going to try and separate us?" Itachi asked, unable to hold in the skepticism in his voice. Deidara's eyes narrowed at the Hunters and he and Itachi shared the same threatening thought for a moment.

"Not we," the Scholar replied. "I think you have adequately proved to us that our way of thinking was limited, discriminatory, and damaging. We claim to be the forebearers of peace, but it is a blind delusion of privilege we gave ourselves."

"You hated us."

"I have been a disgrace as a Scholar to have closed my mind to new ways of thinking," she responded, then held her chin up proudly. "I endeavor to begin righting those wrongs."

"Do with this information as you wish," the Warrior said to them all, rising to his feet and his partner followed suit. "You are right, my dear, the Hunters who are siding with the Mages, or simply have become addicted to the cruelty to power will take advantage of the situation. I believe there will be Shadow Hunters who come after you and Itachi," he added to Deidara. "And you Sasori. For the packs, I am pleased you are here, because I know the packs here and in Germany to be peaceful. We recognize that you wish to live your lives."

"We will inform our Alphas," the Thirds said together.

The Elders and their escorts moved to the door, but Vivitsu stepped forward to Deidara and Itachi. "I would like to extend an apology on behalf of Sophia, and ask your forgiveness in allowing her leave to be cruel," he said to them. "I would rather her apology be given by her, but she is dead."

"Oh," Itachi seemed to be unable to figure out whether or not to look unhappy or pleased.

"I killed her," Vivitsu stated, his casual tone startling Itachi next to him. "She sided with the Mage Council and refused to discuss what transpired. She lied to me and threatened to bespell me if I didn't take her side. She disgraced her position and our trust."

"Oh," the brunette repeated in a much smaller voice. Deidara couldn't help but grin. He liked this guy even more now.

"Good bye, Itachi," the Hunter said in a softer voice. "I hope this is not our last meeting." He followed after the Elders after giving a polite nod to the wolves. Kisame remained leaning against the wall by the study door where he had gone after giving Tal the antidote. Deidara drew his feet up on the couch, relaxing into a more comfortable position as he and Itachi spoke quietly against the door to their minds. There was danger, but Deidara was confident he could protect Itachi this time. Deidara wanted to take advantage of the disarray, but Itachi argued that they should return to Germany and rebuild their home. There were people counting on them. They couldn't leave them unprotected. This, Deidara agreed with. He would go back, and Itachi would follow.

"Don't mind them, they're always this rude," Sasori's voice interrupted their silent conversation.

The werewolves were watching them curiously, Kisame's as well and Itachi flushed in embarrassment. Unfazed, Deidara's face cracked in a carefree grin and wrapped his arms around his knees. "Sorry," he crooned good-naturedly. "Lots to take in, un? Thanks for coming, we really appreciated your input."

"We also appreciate you allowing us to learn this," Jasper replied. "The wolf packs will need to be able to take care of our packs if the Hunters are free to roam and attack."

"Yes," the male werewolf sitting next to Jasper murmured. "Many of our families have been posing as humans to keep our pups safe. We don't know how much the Shadow Hunters knew of them, so we must take care to protect them."

The wolves left together, Jasper handing Deidara the receipts for the hotel rooms and plane tickets unceremoniously, quietly thanking and _Tschüss_ and _sayonara_ -ing the vampires and humans. When they were gone, Kisame finally unstuck himself from the wall.

"See? I told you helping you would be interesting," Kisame said to Itachi.

His human bristled a little and didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment. "People will get hurt," Itachi said softly. "I don't see how this is a good thing at all."

Deidara chose to keep his disagreement private from Itachi as Kisame chuckled. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to keep Itachi and Tal safe, he would have gleefully abandoned the idea of returning to Germany to join the fray. War. He glanced at Sasori and caught his eye. War was fun. Sasori's eyes agreed, but gave sarcastic pity because he believed Itachi's gentle nature was holding him back. Deidara didn't care. He would be good for Itachi's sake, whose heart hurt at the idea of another's pain. "Are you planning on joining us?" Deidara asked the huge Hunter, wondering vaguely if he would even consider letting him do so when he tried to claim Itachi from him.

"Nope," the man shrugged. "I'm going back in. I just asked to come to say good bye to Itachi."

"Thank you for helping us," Itachi told him, starting to get up, but was tugged back down into Deidara's lap. He looked reproachfully at the blond who only grinned and squeezed him affectionately.

"Mine," he stated to Kisame.

Kisame snorted. "Yeah, I know. And you're welcome," he told Itachi. "You won't get rid of me completely. I'll be coming in to check on you just in case you change your mind. Or you want a real training lesson." He nodded to the others on the couch then walked out of the apartment, shutting the door behind himself.

Deidara waited just a moment, then turned his head to give Sasori an expectant look, but his Maker seemed lost in thought and didn't notice, nor did he seem to be preparing to leave either. Across from Sasori, Tal was running his fingers over the neck of the little bottle in his hand as if it were his newborn child. Deidara smiled at him and held Itachi closer. One of the first things to do would be to take the train back through Russia to find their friend's soulmate. Itachi shifted in his lap, either uncomfortable or getting into a better position. Deidara rest his head against the back of Itachi's shoulder, feeling the dark strands of his long hair against his cheek as he rocked his forehead gently against him. This had all been a horrible situation. Definitely near the top of his list of Things To Never Do Again. He wondered if there was a small box he could put Itachi in for the rest of ever to keep him safe.

 _'I don't want to go in a box,'_ Itachi whispered in his mind. Deidara grinned a little and rubbed his nose against Itachi's back, warm and alive.

"So when are you going to make your grand exit?" Deidara asked loudly. "Everyone else did, un." No one answered, so he turned to stare at Sasori again, who still sat in apparent daze. Lost in his thoughts. Sometimes, Sasori forgot that he was in the present. It happened. He was just too old. "Sasori-danna."

"Hm?" Sasori turned to look at him then, frowning when he saw him staring. "Are you in such a hurry to get rid of me, Deidara?" he questioned as though it hadn't taken him so long to answer him.

"Yes," he responded shortly. "I always want to get rid of you, un. I don't know why that hasn't sunk into your thick skull yet."

Itachi elbowed him reproachfully, giving him a look of distaste at his rudeness. "Thank you for helping us, Sasori," he said politely.

"I told you," Sasori replied with his nose turned up. "I get to decide when Deidara dies. No one else."

"But you could have only saved Deidara, or left us to fight our way out," he continued.

"Don't you forget that," the redhead murmured quietly. He slid to the edge of the sofa so he cold plant his feet on the floor and stand upright. "I am going to use your laptop," he added as he went to the study to remove the computer Deidara kept there and went into the master bedroom, shutting the door with a slam.

"Hey! That's our—"

"It's okay," Itachi soothed, leaning back so that he couldn't throw him off to go fight his Maker. "There is another bedroom, or the sofa is okay. He can take it."

The blond grumbled a little, rubbing his face against Itachi's shoulder like a sleepy child again. "Tal," he said finally to the man at the other end of the sofa. He looked up as if he forgot that they were there and gave them a small smile. "Do you mind waiting another two nights before we leave? I should be alright to travel then."

"Yes, of course," Tal said, nodding. "I can't thank you enough for this Deidara."

He waved him off nonchalantly and quickly returned it to Itachi's waist. "What would you like to do tonight?" he asked quietly in Itachi's ear.

"I don't know," was the quiet reply. "I am a little hungry, but mostly I'm tired… There's a pile of dead vampire in the corner now." This seemed to bring him great anxiety, possibly because the blood was seeping into the thick carpet and there were body parts lying next to the end table.

"I'll get someone to clean it up, un," the blond assured him.

"But won't they ask questions?" Itachi asked, shifting so he could look at him.

"Contrary to your experience, my glamour abilities work just fine," Deidara smirked then pretended to eat Itachi's shoulder, careful not to actually bite him. "I know! Let's go out for dinner. I'll get you anything you want."

"Alright," Itachi said, sliding off his lap to stand up. "Tal, would you like to come with us?"

"Oh, no thank you," the Indian man told him, looking back up from staring down at the bottle. "I'm a little jet-lagged to be honest. I think I'll stay here and rest."

The pair said nothing, both knowing that while that may be true, their friend was overwhelmed by the little treasure in his hands and wanted some time alone. Deidara and Itachi had been closed off from one another for a few weeks and it had been quite miserable. Neither could comprehend the decades that had gone by for Tal. Quietly, the two of them slipped away to pull on their shoes and coats and step out into the hallways to get into the elevator. The cool December air washed over Itachi's face, relieving a bit of the evening's stress as he inhaled deeply. When he had left the castle, it had been November and the grounds were covered in a layer of snow, but here he was overdressed.

"Deidara?" he asked as they waited for a light to change.

"Hm?"

Embarrassed, Itachi shoved his hands into his coat pocket, but pressed on. "Can I get a few changes of clothes while we're out?" he asked hopefully. He knew by the sideways look that Deidara didn't understand why he was so timid about asking for things when he knew the blond would buy him his own island if he wanted it. "It's just… I've been wearing these clothes for weeks now…"

"Must be killing you, un," Deidara teased.

"A little," the brunette admitted, letting Deidara pull his arm around the blond's shoulders.

"I will get you anything you want," Deidara reminded him as they walked down the street. "Food first, then shopping."

"It might be better to shop first, in case the shops close early," Itachi suggested, unsure of whether he wasn't as hungry or if he really just wanted to get out of these clothes. The only time he hadn't worn these were when he had been sleeping and training in the Shadow Hunter's compound. He had been lent a spare set of loose fitting clothes then, but had left them in the compound. Just as they had in the first few days of their meeting, Itachi followed Deidara through a mall while he shopped. Unlike last time, he gave his input and picked a few things out for himself and didn't hide in his shadow, terrified of the little monster who was really only a playful teenager with teeth. Once again, he changed in the bathroom and threw his raggedly thin and dirty clothes away. They had been one of his favorite t-shirts to wear and a comfortable pair of jeans, but after so long, he never wanted to see them again. Deidara had the insight to purchase him a new coat, a few sweaters and other winter accessories – gloves, scarves, hat and warm socks. It wasn't cold here, but soon they would be traveling through snowy weather of Russia and Germany again and Deidara had no other way of keeping his human warm.

They walked into a Gusto and seated themselves as far from the door as they could – Deidara's demands. While Itachi looked over the menu and ordered food, the blond got him coffee and juice from the drink bar. "I wish we could stay here another week," Deidara mused as he sat back down, keeping the juice on his side of the table for the illusion of humanity. "It's almost Christmas, but instead we'll be digging through the snow looking for Kali, probably, un. Who knows how long that'll take…"

"What day is it? I lost track…"

"It's the night of the fourteenth," the vampire replied. "Of December."

"A whole month…"

"Yeah… longer for me."

"I don't want to go on another vacation for a while," Itachi admitted. "I just want to sleep in my own bed in my own room. I don't even care if the castle doesn't have a magical barrier. I just want my own bed."

Deidara laughed softly and rested his chin in his palms so he could watch him eat the burger steak the waiter brought to them. "When we get back," he began, because he knew Itachi would feel better being prepared, "the vampires will probably try to challenge me for my position as Master of the City because I was gone during such a bad time. I left Belle in charge, so unless she's dead, they really have no standing, but it's within their right to challenge me, un. There might be a fight, so I want you to be ready just in case. There might be some damage to the castle itself, so there will be repairs to be done." He paused, turning his head to watch out the window across the room. "The wolves will be there," he continued, more to himself than Itachi. "Kit is dead, but Jasper said everyone else was safe, un. I wonder if they're okay…"

"They'll be fine," Itachi said, unsure if he was convincing Deidara or himself. "They had your blood before you left, so they won't have problems with that… right?"

"Sometimes it can come rushing back to them," Deidara said softly. "If the stress is high enough. I've been gone longer than this, but I'm just not certain after the Hunter attack. Jasper didn't say anything about the other vampires' humans. Sam…" he paused, unsure of the words to say, Itachi recognizing through their connection that it was something private to the girl. "I'm concerned for her…"

"Jack is in France," Itachi reminded him gently. "He will be unharmed and will talk to Sam."

"Yeah," Deidara nodded, turning back to watch him eat. "I should call him when I can, let him know I'm alive, un. He won't have to worry about finding a new vampire to keep him from aging again." He ran his finger over the glass of juice, grinning as he watched him. "Is it good?"

Itachi nodded, chewing the burger steak carefully. Deidara seemed pleased and let himself relax a little watching him. He was nervous and on edge. The threat of possible attack looking over him. It was affecting Itachi as well, so he tried to let himself calm down in hopes that it would allow Itachi to do the same. He wanted everything to go back to the normal fun they had once had, but he was torn in the desire to bring new chaos to the oncoming threat. Needing to choose between one or the other was extremely frustrating, so for now, he let himself focus on calm and patient Itachi to anchor himself into humanity and keep him in check so that they could return home and continue their recovery.

The following evening, Itachi stirred from his sleep, drawing his legs closer to his body. He had been in a deep sleep, dreaming of meadows of purple sage and poppies with the blue sky smiling down at them. Someone was calling him by a different name, but the wind always swept it away so he couldn't catch it. The dream was familiar, though he hadn't yet hiked up the mountain to see it in person yet, but Deidara had a long time ago. Things of Deidara's human past, muddy and blurred in his mind, came to Itachi in clear dreams. He wondered if the person was calling Deidara's real name, the human name given to him by his parents that neither he nor Sasori remembered anymore. Every time he dreamed this, he tried to listen closely, hoping to catch it, but the wind always whipped it away. Willing himself to awaken, his eyes met large blue ones that reflected the color of the sky he had been dreaming. Half asleep, he wondered if Deidara had gotten them that blue from staring at the sky so much when he was a child, but shook the thought away. Eye color was from a gene repressor, not staring at something for long periods of time.

He smiled at Deidara and reached up to push his hair from his face to rub his eyes. He had taken to sleeping during the day because Deidara had developed an annoying anxious habit of waking him up when he slept at night to make sure he was still alive, as if he couldn't hear his heart beat. This happened during the day as well, but not as often. "Hey," he murmured, stretching his back. "What time is it?"

"Five," he replied from his frog like position above his head. "Come on, let's go, un."

"Go? Where?" Itachi asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes more. "Why are you whispering?"

"It's more fun this way," the blond replied, nudging his back with his forehead to get him off the bed like a puppy wanting attention and waited for him to get dressed in his new clothes the blond had put on the bed for him. "We're leaving tonight, right? Don't you want one more tour of Tokyo before we leave, un?"

Itachi considered this, pulling his head through his shirt and tying his hair back. "That would be nice," he said, standing upright. "Is it safe to go out though?"

"No," Deidara said with a mischievous grin. "There are Hunters outside. They were following us last night and so were a few vampires, but I don't think they have the guts to attack us, un. We'll be extra sneaky tonight."

"That sounds dangerous," Itachi paused in pulling his sweater on, but Deidara made a shooing motion with his hand. The brunette wasn't very convinced though. As much as he did want to see Tokyo again before they left, the idea of ducking corners to avoid Hunters or anything else that might be after than didn't sound exceptionally appealing.

When he was finished tying the laces of his new shoes, the two of them walked out into the living room where Sasori was sitting and watching cartoons again. The room had a strange odor to it, courtesy of the new carpet that had been put down earlier in the day. Itachi and Tal had silently overseen the operation after Deidara had used his glamour on the humans to not panic or tell about the body. Itachi, who wasn't affected by such things thanks to his Shadow Hunter blood, had never seen it put into action before and was both mesmerized and horrified by it. The redhead watched the two of them leave suspiciously as they crossed the common area, but Deidara pretended to be nonchalant, which – in Itachi's opinion – had the exact opposite effect. Sasori didn't question or follow them, so they found themselves once again in the elevator alone, this time going to the basement instead of the ground floor.

They had to leave this way, Deidara explained, because it came out at the service entrance instead of the front so no one would see them leaving. Even so, the blond was acting extremely cautious, playing a game with himself to escape the apartment building unseen. Watching him playing, Itachi nearly forgot that they were possibly in danger. Almost. Still, it was quite some time and many streets, trains and a bus ride before Deidara finally stopped playing a smirked at him.

"No one's following us," he informed him proudly. "I can't smell a hint of magic or Hunter or vampire anywhere around here, un."

"Could they be hiding it?" Itachi asked, glancing around.

"No, I would have smelled it."

Itachi decided not to point out that Deidara hadn't smelled any magic on him either so as not to injure the blond's fragile ego. They walked the streets in silence down one of the little roads that appeared both street and sidewalk. The air was crisp, not night time cold yet, but on its way there. Every so often a car or a bike would pass them with people on their way home from work or school. They were in the outer edges of Saitama prefecture, but Itachi had never been to this area before. His family's compound had been in Saitama, but closer to Tokyo. It seemed like a nice, quiet place with houses guarded from the outside world by stone walls. Itachi looked down at the blond who was giving the air of taking a casual stroll, but his eyes were darting around as if he were looking for something. He was about to ask what it was when Deidara held his hand out and pointed at one of the houses.

There was nothing about this house that set it apart from any of its neighbors. The brick wall had evening glories spilling over one side nearly covering the house number 3 and the shudders on the top floor thrown open to air out the house. Deidara looked unbelievably pleased with himself, but Itachi couldn't make out why. "What is it?" Itachi finally asked after a moment of silence.

"It's a house," Deidara told him, then laughed when Itachi gave him an annoyed look. "Just a house. People live there, un."

"What are you doing?"

The two turned to face the newcomer, a teenager wearing the uniform of a local high school with a backpack and sports bag slung over his shoulders. His hands were stuffed into his pockets and he was frowning, glancing from them to the house suspiciously. Itachi realized he probably lived there and was wondering why a stranger and a foreigner were standing there talking about his house.

Itachi started to apologize, but was struck dumb by the strangeness of the young man. He couldn't pinpoint what it was that made him strange, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Thankfully, any awkward moment caused by his silence was rescued by Deidara who never had any trouble talking. "Are your parents home?" he asked brightly.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Maybe?" he responded vaguely. "Who are you?"

"I know your mother's home at least, un," Deidara said with a smirk.

"Who are you?" he repeated in an irritated voice.

"Who are you?" Deidara countered.

The teenager made an irritated scoff and glared at the blond, his dark eyes flecked with an odd color before readjusting his bags and stalked off towards the house. Itachi stomach leapt to his chest, staring after him. He knew him. He _knew_ him. "Sas—"

"Oh, you're home Sasuke," a woman's voice sounded as he opened the gate and stalked up to the door. She opened the door for him. "I was just walking to the store; do you need anything?"

"There's some weirdo foreigner outside," the teenager said as he disappeared into the inner chambers of the house without a backward glance.

Itachi made an involuntary noise as the woman called after him that what he said was rude as she peered out to see what 'weirdo foreigner' he had been talking about. Deidara gave her a wave, but her eyes sharpened in suspicion and fear. The brunette didn't know how, but this woman knew Deidara wasn't a normal person, but then her eyes fell on Itachi and her bag fell with a clatter to the ground as her hands flew to her mouth.

"Oh, my…" she whispered, gesturing them to step onto the property. Itachi hesitated, but Deidara clutched his reluctant arm. His legs nearly forgot how to work. "Itachi?" she asked in soft voice. "Is it you?"

"You know him?" Deidara asked, the confident and proud expression on his face faltering slightly to look confused.

"I knew your mother," she replied, though she spoke to Itachi. "You look… oh, Itachi, you look just like her. But what are you doing with a vampire, Itachi?"

"I thought you were human," Deidara said, even more confused, but the woman waved him off with a dark look.

"I am human, my husband and I both," she hissed under her breath. "But I knew the Uchihas, we used to live right next to the family compound. What are you—"

"He's my friend," Itachi explained in a weak voice. "He's not dangerous. He-… he's been taking care of me. Have you been taking care of…" he stared passed her at the house, unable to get the name out properly.

"Yes," she said in a gentle voice. "Your parents asked us to take care of you two should anything happen to them. Your mother gave me an item that would let me know to come for her children. Not even the Shadow Hunters knew who we were. We saved Sasuke, he was sleeping in your bed, Itachi, but… we never found you. We were able to get Sasuke out before the Shadow Hunters showed up, but you… Oh, Itachi, we thought you were dead. How did you find us?"

"I know someone who's good at finding people, un," Deidara explained, keeping his voice friendly and casual though Itachi could dimly tell that he was annoyed at being ignored.

The woman finally looked at him, her expression serious before she turned back to Itachi. "I did not want us to be found," she said, though it seemed more directed at Deidara. "We thought you were dead… I had hoped the Shadow Hunters hadn't found you when we hadn't. We wanted you safe from… from that world. I guess it found you anyway."

"Can I meet him?" Itachi blurted out, trying to keep the desperation from his voice.

The woman hesitated, glancing back at the house as she thought and Itachi's brain caught up with his heart. It was a bad idea. Itachi knew it was. With the Shadow Hunters possibly coming after him, the Tokyo vampires quelled only out of fear of Sasori, war brewing among the paranormal, it was not a safe world for his brother to be in. No one knew Sasuke was still alive after all. The Shadow Hunters had gone through leaps and bounds trying to get Itachi back, and Itachi was protected by Deidara. Sasuke had no protection that was stronger than anonymity. The woman's hesitation lasted a few seconds too long and Itachi knew she would say no.

Deidara looked mildly annoyed, but didn't speak to the human woman. Instead, he grinned up at Itachi and gave him an affectionate bump with his elbow. "He looks just like you, un," he said. Itachi tried to return the wide smile with a small one of his own, but couldn't manage more than a slight grimace. That was what had been strange about him. It wasn't that he was strange, but that he looked familiar; he looked like Itachi, just slightly off. A mirror that wasn't working properly. He felt his breath catching in his chest.

"We're leaving Japan tonight," Deidara said, saving Itachi again from his crushed silence. "I just thought we'd stop by to see if my friend was wrong or not, un. Sam's amazing, right?" he added to Itachi, looking thoroughly pleased with himself then gave the woman a narrow-eyed smirk. "You're going to keep Sasuke from seeing his big brother?" he demanded, but Itachi raised his hand in front of him.

"No, it's better that he doesn't know," Itachi said softly. "It's better that he thinks I'm dead, or doesn't exist or whatever they told him." He grabbed Deidara's wrist to keep him from doing something rash like bolt into the house to get the teenager himself and took a step away. "Come on. Sasori will be angry if we're running late."

"What?" Deidara exclaimed, much louder than necessary.

Itachi tried again to smile at the blond, forcing his face to appear much calmer than he felt. As though he wanted to leave. As if this was the best thing to do. Because it was the best thing. "He will be," he forced out as smoothly as possible. "We're keeping Tal from finding Kali again."

"But—"

"Please," Itachi insisted, taking another step back, willing Deidara to do the same because he knew he couldn't walk away from his brother on his own. Deidara did so, possibly only out of confusion and Itachi took another look up at the house, seeing a light turn on on the second floor. Maybe he was in there. Forcing the intense feelings of longing down passed the rock in his stomach, Itachi gave the house his back and followed their footsteps back towards the train station.

This was best. This was best. It was best. It is best. He repeated variations of the phrase over and over to himself, each step he took away from his brother a firm reassurance. His stomach clenched painfully, his heart aching at his actions, but he knew there was nothing else he could have done. It was selfish to want to meet his brother. Very selfish. Deidara meant well, but in their current situation, it would only have put Sasuke in danger. More than he wanted to see his brother, he wanted his brother to be safe and happy. Safe from war. Safe from monsters of all kinds. The brief seconds he had seen him, Itachi could see that Sasuke had grown well. He looked healthy, looked strong and happy. He was in school. He would have friends. He played sports; Itachi aching heart longed to know what sports he played, what his friends were like. Did he have plans for his future? What universities did he want to apply to? Itachi had no right to disrupt that life. No right. His fingers were crushing into Deidara's wrist, but the blond didn't say anything. Itachi wasn't strong enough to hurt the vampire. He wasn't strong enough to keep his brother safe. This was all the strength he had; to turn around and run away from him. To leave him with this family of humans who were raising him to be human. To go to school. To play sports. To support him. Not to learn to fight and defend himself, not to learn the politics of vampires, or dance around dangerous creatures. Itachi wouldn't be the one to destroy that. His whole life he had wondered if he could have done anything as a child to keep his brother safe when their family had been killed. Terrified, he had done nothing and now, once again, nothing was all he could do for his brother. Just allow Sasuke to believe that he didn't exist.

"Itachi?"

He stopped walking at the entrance to the station, but didn't let go of Deidara's arm, too afraid that his will would crumble and run back and smash down the door to Sasuke's home just to see him one more time, just to hold that precious person one more time. He stared at the train tracks, not really seeing them, his eyes unfocused. Even with their connection, he couldn't convey what he wanted to the blond. He couldn't convey anything. He felt as though his whole body was shutting down. This was the only thing he could do.

His vision was obstructed by the blond stepping in front of him, his blue eyes wide with confusion and concern. Itachi wanted to explain himself, but his heart was broken and there was not a single thing he could say to explain himself. Deidara didn't understand his thoughts, stolen and alienated from the human world so that he couldn't comprehend the emotions that sucked him into this limbo.

As they rode the train back to Tokyo, Itachi allowed Deidara to lead him around. He retreated into his own mind to hide from himself. In his mind space, he sat in his favorite chair with his thoughts scattered in haphazard piles he could never accurately put away. He didn't want to think, but the more he tried not to, the more he thought. He could feel them moving through crowds. He could feel Deidara's arm around his, leading him, but he refused to emerge from his mind space, fingers clutching a book of memories. He didn't know if this book contained memories as Sasori's had, but what this book had were pictures accompanying the memories. His brother looking at Deidara and him. His dark curious eyes, he remembered well. His hair was longer than it had been, though not nearly as long as his own. He wasn't as tall as Itachi, but looked strong from playing sports… maybe soccer or basketball. It had been so long, but he knew him. Sitting alone in his mind, staring at his brother, he felt his heart cracking into tiny broken pieces as tears he didn't want Deidara to see spilled down his cheeks.


	32. Travels Through the Snow

"What is wrong with him?"

Sasori's voice drifted into his ears, finally drawing his focus from the picture book of memories in his mind space to the real world around him. He was a little startled to find himself in an airplane, having no memory of going to or getting on an airplane having spent the whole time in his mind looking over the picture book of memories in his mind space. Deidara was sitting to his right at the window, Sasori to his left, and Tal sat on the aisle seat across from them.

"I don't know. He's just sad," Deidara mumbled what was possibly the biggest understatement of the year. 'Sad' was a very small word for what Itachi was feeling right now, but Deidara was still confused and annoyed about being confused.

Sasori leaned into Itachi's vision, a scowl on his face. Itachi let his eyes follow him to show he wasn't entirely dead inside, but didn't say anything. "Why?" the vampire questioned.

"I'm fine," Itachi murmured, turning his head away from Sasori. "Sorry." The vampire didn't look convinced in the slightest, but sat back in his seat.

"Are you mad at me?" Deidara asked quietly, looking up from where he'd been sitting, slouched bad-postured, with his chin on his knees. He had been watching a superhero movie and a glance showed him Sasori had been watching the same movie.

"No," Itachi assured him. "It… it was just very hard to walk away."

"We shouldn't have walked away, un," the blond muttered under his breath.

"No… we had to. If we hadn't, it would have put him in danger," Itachi told him. Deidara made a face that said he didn't appreciate the parental tone he had used, but Itachi couldn't help it. Deidara was a sporadic person. He was clever and smart, but sometimes his brain just ran to fast for him to think out many steps in advance, especially with something he was excited about. Like taking Itachi from Japan, breaking rules. Like claiming him as his Silluetu as a short-term fix. Like exposing Sasuke to a world that was on the brink of war when he was safe and happy with his new family.

"But you wanted to see him," Deidara insisted, unhappy that Itachi was upset and he couldn't fix it. "I know you do, un. I can feel it."

"He needs to be safe."

"But you want to be with him, un."

"I would rather him be safe."

"But!" Deidara stomped on the floor angrily, frustrated that his argument was making no heading. "We could've taken care of him. It would've been fine and now you're unhappy, un!"

"I know," Itachi murmured quietly. "It's okay… I really want him to be safe and happy."

"Who are we talking about?"

"We aren't talking about anyone, Sasori-danna."

Itachi started at the seat in front of him, focusing all his attention on it as Sasori suddenly leaned uncomfortably close to him. His nose was centimeters from his cheek, trying to intimidate him into speaking. Deidara glanced over at them with a dirty look, but didn't get defensive, so Itachi knew Sasori wouldn't beat it out of him. He sat as still as possible as Sasori sniffed him in silence. Itachi refused to give anything away, no matter how intimidating Sasori was. The vampire apparently found nothing interesting from his scent either because he made an unhappy noise and sat back in his seat again. "Where did you go earlier?" Sasori questioned.

"Around Tokyo," Itachi replied when Deidara didn't.

"You're lying," Sasori growled. "You don't smell like Tokyo at all. Tell the truth."

Itachi finally turned his head to face him, trying to meet his eyes as squarely as he dared. The child vampire seemed to accept this challenge and refused to back down, though it was also possible that Sasori just didn't understand that staring at anyone for long periods of time was socially unacceptable. Finally understanding that he wasn't going to win this argument silently, he gave a small shake of his head. "I have no intention of telling you Sasori," he told him. "I'm sorry."

Deidara started to peer around him to say something smug, but Itachi held his hand up in front of the blond's face without looking at him. Starting a fight on a plane was probably the worst thing in the world that could happen right now and the blond accepted that quite begrudgingly as he folded his arms angrily over his chest.

Sasori looked slightly amused at their interaction, but for once didn't egg Deidara on. "I could find out."

"I don't doubt that, but I would appreciate it if you didn't try," Itachi replied.

Sasori puffed his cheeks slightly in annoyance, but he didn't say anything else as the fasten seatbelt sign came on as they began their decent. When the plane touched down, Deidara's seatbelt was unbuckled and poised to get up, but Sasori, who was in the aisle seat, was waiting patiently for the shuffle of frantic people to clear out so the blond had to wait, his leg giggling irritably. He gave Itachi a miserably impatient expression that the brunette took to mean that Deidara was going to pretend the afternoon hadn't happened. He wasn't unhappy with him for not being as excited to see his brother as he had expected him to be and was also relieved that Itachi wasn't mad at him, so he put it out of his mind for now.

The short trip back to the train station he and Kisame had left several weeks ago was uneventful and Tal, his hand tucked deeply into his coat pocket protecting the vial, suggested that they get food before their trip. The vampires obliged, though Deidara was muttering in Itachi's mind. Tal was much better at thinking logically than the blond, who had been looking forward to seeing at least one person be as excited as him. Itachi looked down at the blond and gave a small smile, lifting his elbow to give him a little nudge. Sasori was still watching them closely, so Itachi was careful to keep his face form reflecting the pain his heart felt for leaving his home country and his brother behind. After a quick meal, they walked into the train station and Deidara bought them all tickets with one of his credit cards.

They had a small cabin to themselves and they shut the door to give themselves some privacy in case their conversation shifted to the topics of paranormal, though Deidara insisted that it wouldn't matter because humans would just assume they were talking about something like a movie or a game.

"Deidara," Sasori began as the train started gathering speed. "You have a better sense of distance and direction than him," he didn't gesture, but Itachi knew he was talking about himself. "When we get close to the spot, we will need to jump off."

"Jump off?" Itachi started, staring at him then out the window. It was dark, but as they passed through the city, the lights and signs were going by at speeds that inspired his imagination of what would happen to them if they jumped off the train. They weren't even going top speed yet.

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Sounds exciting doesn't it?" he replied, though his face was lacking any hint of excitement.

"Into the snow," Deidara grinned, obviously not thinking of death, but the prospect of rolling around in the snow. "Wont the sun be coming up though?" he asked with a frown.

Sasori gave a nod, a small smirk on his face. "I guess it's time to test your resolution," he commented and Deidara swallowed nervously, glancing over at Itachi, who realized this resolution meant feeding off him to get a better hold on his Suntime death.

"I trust you," he told the blond with a smile that didn't reassure him very much.

They were together in the compartment for a few days, mostly in silence except for a few arguments that sprung up between the two vampires. Itachi was beginning to be able to read Sasori's body language, however strange and abnormal it was. He was getting better at noticing when the child vampire was starting to get bored, which usually meant he was about to rile up Deidara on purpose. When he noticed such things, he immediately asked Sasori a question about history or anatomy that would distract him with an audience for storytelling, or send Deidara unexpected thoughts that made the effects of Sasori's comments less than they could be because the blond would be paying attention to his human.

Twice a day – before the sun set and before it rose, Itachi and Deidara would slip away to find an unused and private compartment so the blond could feed on Itachi. Itachi was a little surprised that Deidara had suggested privacy, because he certainly wouldn't have thought of it before, but perhaps when they had dropped the barrier between them, a little bit of Itachi's thoughts, jumbled from his inexperience with the connection, filtered through in understanding. He understood just how much Itachi dreaded the very thought of getting bitten in front of anyone due to the reaction to vampire venom. He was also surprised that Sasori didn't follow them, or perhaps he did and Itachi just didn't notice. He sincerely hoped not. Deidara was positively delighted to have private moments to play with Itachi, as he called it, though he was being extremely nervous about feeding on him, only drinking from a little cut at first so it would heel faster. The first time he used his fangs was in the shower located in the first class compartment under the guise of Itachi wanting a shower – he had wanted to shower too, but Deidara had followed him like a protective guard dog. Before the trip, Itachi had still been embarrassed about feeding – or rather, the orgasmic side effects, so most of the feedings were small mouthfuls from cuts. Their connection, raw from their separation, created an overwhelming flow of emotions when they fed. Itachi received the delicious relief Deidara felt from his blood – and understanding of the strength it took not to drain him, while Deidara felt the physical effects he could not in his vampiric body. In the shower, they had both collapsed on the floor in heaps of pleasured dizziness and it took them quite some time to return to the compartment they shared after Deidara had climbed on top of his lap and fed from him again, using a towel to muffle Itachi's moans. Sasori had eyed them suspiciously when they returned, scrutinizing Itachi's red ears and Deidara's insuppressible giggling.

A few days into their trip, the blond was lounging lazily with his head on Itachi's lap, imitating a nap instead of the effects of the sun when his eyes opened with a sharp snap and he lurched up again. Itachi, who had been talking quietly to Tal, startled and stared, barely having moved his chin out of the way from colliding with the vampire's skull.

"We're almost there," he said to no one in particular, but Sasori also sat up from where he had been resting against the side of his seat. "A few miles away, un." He tilted his head back as far as it would go to look back at Itachi with a grin. "According to your memory."

"Hopefully it's accurate," Sasori commented, picking up his outer accessories that had spread out over the trip and put them on. Itachi didn't ask why a vampire needed a winter coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, because despite the gruffness the vampire had and the dangers he held at his fingertips, he looked remarkably like a child about to go play out in the snow.

The others followed in suit and pulled on nearly every piece of warm clothing they had bought in Tokyo and walked out into the corridor, Deidara shouldering his bag. No one paid much attention to them, so they reached an empty car without much difficulty. Sasori opened a door to the rushing, snow covered outside world and jumped out without hesitation, but the two humans glanced at Deidara, quite certain that they would not survive the jump as easily as he had, so the blond took hold of them both and leaped out after his Maker.

The snow felt like a wall as Itachi hit it. Even bundled up as he was, the cold wind stung and he lost his breath when they fell through the snow, despite the fact that Deidara had taken the brunt of the impact, the snow nearly swallowing him in its depths weighed down by the two humans. When the train finally passed, Deidara tilted his arms back so the two humans could drop into the cleared path of train tracks and waited for the vampire to dig himself out. Itachi pulled his coat closer to himself, thinking of how three more layers wouldn't have hurt, but figured it would be less miserable once they started walking. They waited, Itachi and Tal shifting their weight around to keep warm, until Sasori caught up with them, punching a hole into the train's snow trench from the tunnel he had dug. He was covered in snow and shared a strange sort of grin with the blond. It looked entirely out of place on his face, but Itachi couldn't help but smile at the gleeful look Deidara gave his Maker. Sometimes it was difficult to remember exactly how young these two were mentally, but moments like these brought the thought back to him.

"How will we find Kali?" Tal asked as Sasori gave himself a big shake like a dog to dislodge the snow. "She's closed me off, I won't be able to help find her."

"We will be able to smell her," Sasori's strange, yet playful, grin disappeared and was replaced by a sardonic one. "Even in this thin air. Don't freeze you two," he added, pointing at the two humans with a gloved hand. "We don't have any body heat to share."

The group followed him back into the tunnel he had started, and they began the slow process of tunneling through the snow. The two vampires seemed delighted to be doing so in snow that was nearly over Itachi's head – definitely over their heads – and they seemed to know what direction to go through the brunette had no idea how. Deidara answered his confusion by telling him that since Kali had told Itachi that she had seen the train stopped from her nest and they could smell a carcass ahead somewhere, they were heading in this direction. That was also the reason one why every so often, one of them would punch a hole in the cavern to let in the outside air and sometimes Sasori would climb onto Deidara's back to poke his head out of. It was possible that the carcass belonged to a wild animal's dinner, but it could also be a victim of a hungry vampire living off of animal blood.

 _'Deidara? How are we getting back?'_ Itachi asked suddenly as he watched Sasori climb onto Deidara's shoulders again to let his head disappear in the roof again. He noted that Sasori did appear to be having an exceptionally good time playing in the snow, while Tal just looked more and more anxious as they traveled. Itachi was too cold to speak aloud.

 _'What do you mean?'_ Deidara asked, turning to look at him and earning a hard kick in the gut from Sasori for moving him.

Itachi pulled his scarf up closer to his mouth and exhaled heavily to warm his cheeks. He could feel the condensation of his breath crystalizing on the fabric. _'After we find Kali,'_ he explained. ' _How are we going to get back to civilization?'_

Deidara whipped around to stare at him with wild eyes and dumped Sasori onto the ground before the redhead could kick him again. "DANNA," he shouted, very unnecessarily. "How are we getting back home after we get Kali, un? These two can't travel in the cold like we can, and we have no food for them!"

Sasori took the time to pull himself out of the snow pile and stood up to glare at the blond. "You only just thought of that? They're your humans; I'm going home when this is all over."

"What?" Deidara shouted again, Tal and Itachi taking several steps out of harms way automatically. "They're going to freeze to death! What the hell is wrong with you, un?"

"You were free to think of something yourself, you know," Sasori informed him in a calm voice that contrasted drastically with Deidara's that was almost at a shrieking level.

"You said to do what you said, un!"

"And when have you ever done what I said?"

Deidara gave an angry yell and jumped at the redhead who turned in time to catch him, but was still thrown into the snow. Several inches of snowy ceiling fell on their heads as they knocked about, but it wasn't enough to cause much damage to the two humans, who simply scrambled over the chunks of snow to get out of the way while the two vampires fought. Itachi thought it was about time this happened because Deidara and Sasori seemed to need to physically fight every time they met, and they hadn't done so in several days due to their close proximity to normal humans and the need to keep a low profile. They were probably bursting to attack one another at this point and Itachi understood some of the reasons that Deidara was usually so intent on avoiding Sasori at all costs, though the past few months had been an extremely rare exception.

Itachi turned to Tal to give him a half-exasperated, half-apologetic expression when something pricked the back of his neck and his red flags flew up so fast he startled, terrified, but of what he couldn't tell. Deidara seemed to sense the fear through their connection and stopped trying to tear Sasori's arm off which resulted in Sasori shoving his face violently into a mound of snow. When the blond lifted his head to watch Itachi instead of retaliating, Sasori stopped fighting and seemed to freeze, his attention lengthening to a wider sphere around himself. No one moved.

Suddenly, Deidara leapt into the air as the ceiling near the humans caved in. He collided with a dark shape and battle raged on again, this time for more violent and the snow around them was soon stained in blood. Itachi winced when claws swiped against Deidara's skin, rubbing the area to relieve the irritation. The two humans hurried further away, desperately trying to get out of the way as the vampires came closer. They shared a glance, Itachi worried and Tal looking heartbroken. Itachi remembered how it felt to be so close to Deidara when the blond ahd closed him off and had no idea how to comfort his friend.

Peering around the bend in the snowy tunnel, Itachi watched as the two vampires worked together to fight the third. For all their bickering, it was fascinating to see how well Deidara and Sasori fought together. He wondered why Sasori didn't use his puppeteer ability to hold her in place, but wondered if Kali was too strong. Deidara had told him that Sasori had almost lost control over him when the blond had been worried about Itachi, so perhaps the bloodlust made Kali so desperate that it made him impossible to hold. She looked as feral as she had when Itachi last saw her on the train with Kisame, a horror ghost come to life, her fingers flashing like claws, her long hair matted and swinging wildly around them as she tried to fight through the two child vampires to get to the blood source she was after.

Behind him, Tal stepped out and took a small inhale of breath to calm himself. "Kali," he said, his voice soft and tender. "My priyatam." The vampires, with their superb hearing, caught it easily and the woman's face went blank with shock and longing. Her hesitation was enough for Sasori to sweep her legs out from under her and Deidara wrestled her to the ground, looking extremely harassed and bleeding from the sharp nails and teeth she had used against them.

Her reaction seemed to give Tal courage and he took another step closer to the vampires, but Itachi shot out a hand to keep him from getting too close and Deidara gave him a small thankful nod. The blond wasn't sure how well he and Sasori would be able to hold her down. Instead, Tal knelt down in the snow and began to speak to her in a language Itachi didn't know, but Kali tilted her head to the side and listened as if she heard delightful music far away. When he paused, she replied in the same language, though it was hoarse as if she hadn't used it in a long while, and struggled, trying it free her arms from Sasori to reach for him, calling Tal's name longingly, but Sasori grabbed her face and forced her gaze away from the humans.

He spoke to her in the same language, his eyes haughty with the same self-satisfied expression that usually lurked on his face. Kali answered with a growl. Confused, Itachi looked at Deidara who gave a dramatic shrug to indicate that he didn't understand the language they were speaking. Sasori repeated what he said in a sterner voice and Kali replied with his name, so Itachi deduced that he had asked her if she knew who he was. Smirking at her – which seemed to aggravate her more, Sasori spoke again and she froze with a soft, animalistic preen and Tal gave a gentle smile.

Walking up to her slowly, Tal knelt down in front of her, a mixture of expressions on his face that was almost embarrassing to see. He whispered to her and she finally managed to shake Sasori off one of her arms, reaching out to touch Tal's face, sliding her fingertips over his jawline. Itachi stepped closer, ready to pull his friend from safety, but stopped when her eyes darted briefly to him, but returned almost instantly to Tal's face. Itachi remembered her expression when she had heard his name. It was nothing to the one she had now.

"Give me the bottle, un," Deidara said to Tal, holding his hand out expectantly.

His words broke the spell of peace. Kali yowled like an angry cat and swiped at his hand, nearly knocking the bottle away. "Deidara, you foul brat!" she snapped in German, fighting their hold again. "How could you? How dare you bring Tal here?! You promised you would keep him safe away from me!"

"We've brought you a present, un," he told her, not bothered at all by her yelling. "A cure, Kali. Seriously, un. Hold still, damnit."

"A what?" she demanded, her voice still angry as she writhed under them. Tal slid back slightly, but the movement caught her attention. Her large hungry eyes locked on him again and she made a sound that was halfway through a growl and a preen.

Tal spoke to her again in the language Itachi didn't know and she tilted her head up to him with her eyes shining. Sasori spoke again and she gave a halfhearted glare at him as he took her chin firmly again. She snapped her teeth into his palm, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he held on, patiently waiting until she withdrew her biting teeth and made a low rumbling sound that could have been a slightly apologetic growl. "You heard him," he said in a calm voice. "Hold still so we can give it to you." Deidara shivered the same moment that Itachi shifted uncomfortably. Something about the way Sasori's bearing was directed at Kali made him feel strange, like he needed to cower in the corner and wondered if this is what dogs felt like when their human bore down on them for doing something wrong.

This time, she didn't fight him, Sasori's will bearing down on her. She was an old vampire, but Sasori was ancient. Itachi handed Sasori the bottle when he snapped his fingers at him and the vampire poured the liquid into Kali's mouth, then held his hand firmly over her mouth in case she tried to spit it out.

"How long do you think it'll take to work?" Deidara asked, shifting so he could sit on her chest when Sasori rolled her over onto her back.

"How long after the attack did the Bloodstarved state overwhelm her?" Sasori questioned, standing up again and frowned down at her, his hands held out again. Itachi saw a slight shimmer in the air and he wondered if Sasori had successfully held her now.

"A week," Tal answered, looking down at her upside-down face. He didn't seem to mind that she looked like a crazed animal. He was drinking in all of her with total adoration.

"A weak?!" Deidara cried, facing Sasori again. "This is the worst plan you've ever come up with, Sasori-danna! Our humans are going to FREEZE."

"Your humans."

"MY HUMANS!" Deidara was shouting again, but didn't rise from Kali's chest. He looked like he was feeling torn from attacking Sasori again or running over to steal Itachi away, but also didn't want to leave Kali.

"I think it's already working," Kali murmured, closing her eyes. "I can feel it… like it's chasing the dark away… slowly."

Sasori gave a small humph of interest as he examined the bottle with obvious curiosity before replacing the cork and pocketing it. The gesture made Itachi's stomach give a wary twist. "Interesting," Sasori comment. "And Deidara, I have told you before, I don't care whether or not your humans freeze—" Deidara made a vicious shriek from the ground and Sasori glared at him darkly.

"Deidara, Sasori isn't going to let us freeze or die," Itachi said in a calming voice.

The redhead turned very slowly and dangerously to face Itachi. "I might," he added with cool nastiness.

"No, you won't," Itachi gave him a small smile. "Because you have gone out of your way to help us a lot, I'm sure you will be expecting something in return and you won't get that if you let me or Tal freeze."

Deidara's anger dropped the instant he glanced over at Sasori's annoyed looking face and smirked. Itachi expected him to say something to egg Sasori on, but the blond only giggled in their minds. _'I love when you put people in their place, un. It's pretty sexy.'_

 _'Please stop saying things like that,'_ Itachi murmured back, blushing slightly. "How are we getting back?" he asked aloud.

"I don't know."

Itachi moved out of the way as more of the ceiling snow collapsed and frowned at Sasori. "You really didn't think of something?" he asked to clarify.

"No."

Itachi sighed slightly as Deidara growled and started going at Sasori again, which the redhead promptly ignored as he dropped down into a pile of snow, crossing one leg over the other as if it were a thrown. Tal was still kneeling on the ground, staring down at Kali with such a happy expression plastered on his face, Itachi doubted the man would be any help to the situation, which meant it was his duty to figure out exactly how they were going to survive and escape this snowy wilderness. If Kali was feeding from animals, there'd be something the animals ate or they could catch one of the animals and perhaps build a fire to cook something. He was very certain there weren't any people in the area since Kali had chosen this place to keep herself from caving to the Bloodstarved state. Perhaps they could stop a new train for a moment to be able to climb on, or maybe Deidara would be able to board the train without it slowing down, but they couldn't get on now – Kali was still fighting the poison and that might not be safe to take her near so many people.

He pondered their options for a moment, bouncing on his toes to keep warm. Sasori still hadn't reacted to any of Deidara's verbal attacks, and the blond had simmered down into a glowering silence. His blue eyes followed him as he moved around, growing less angry and more concerned each time he pulled his scarf up to blow hot air onto his face.

"I'm fine, Deidara," he assured him aloud, but began to pace a little so as to warm his legs up a bit. "The best option is to delay a train long enough to get back on. It would be too difficult to hike to the nearest stop where we could get tickets. We can stay in the cargo bay like Deidara did on his way to China. If Kali feeds on enough animal blood before we leave, will that keep her safe from humans on the train?"

Sasori made a scoffing sound. "How many animals do you think live in this wilderness?"

"You," Itachi said pointedly, "are welcome to go ahead without us. Our plans for returning don't have to include you, but getting Kali back into civilization safely and also Tal and I through the cold is important and would be a lot easier with your help."

The redhead gave another scoff. "You always need my help," he commented.

"This time, we don't," Itachi said firmly, ignoring the irritated look on Sasori's face and the gleefully delighted one on Deidara's. "We don't need you, but it would be helpful," he emphasized on the last word, feeling rather frustrated at the vampire's lack of interest in keeping him or Tal alive. He knew Sasori didn't want either of them dead, or else he wouldn't have helped them in the first place, so what exactly was driving the vampire now? Wanting to know what Deidara and he had done before they left Japan? That seemed too petty.

"Either way," Itachi continued when Sasori didn't reply, looking down at Deidara. "We should find a place to stay while the antidote works on Kali. This place isn't very sheltered," he gestured to the ceiling that the wind was still blowing snow on them, "and we don't know how long it will take." He looked down at Kali who was shifting a little under Deidara, her fingers flexing, but was still held spread-eagled in the snow. Her gaze on himself and Tal kept shifting freakishly from listening to hunger, but when she noticed him looking at her, she locked onto his face and the hair on the back of his neck stood up again, but, like before, Itachi forced himself to keep his heart rate low so as not to entice her or Deidara's already fraying patience. "You said, when I last saw you, that you had a nest nearby?"

"Yes," she hissed at him.

"Is there enough room for all of us?" he asked, trying not to sound so eager. He didn't want to stand out in this cold longer than he needed to. The snow was already in his boots, his socks feeling wet.

She considered him a moment, the turned her gaze to stare at Sasori and Deidara suspiciously. The blond looked down at her, concealing the worry for his human with blankness. Itachi waited, deducing that she was trying to determine whether or not it was safe to allow two possible enemies into the safety she used for her Suntime death. The remainder of the tunnel's ceiling caved in, revealing the permanent grey sky, thick with snow clouds. It was impossible what time of day it was, but the brunette was certain that it was still day time. He didn't know how old Kali was, probably not much older than Deidara; she must have dragged herself out at the smell of intruders and warm blooded humans despite the sun.

"There are hot springs," she croaked out, seeming to decide that they were not a threat. "You will be warmed."

"Should I hold your hand while we walk?" Deidara asked, giving her his usual playful grin.

"Perhaps," she agreed, standing as Deidara slid off her. Her surprised expression made Itachi suspect it had been Sasori who had raised her, not herself.

Deidara started to hold out his hand out to her in a childish gesture, but paused and looked back at Itachi and Tal, suddenly torn. The two of them couldn't move through this so much snow without help. He glanced sideways at Sasori, almost reluctantly and the redhead muttered darkly in a language that none of them seemed to understand, but he gestured imperiously to Kali and she followed him, half on her own, half jerkingly as Sasori gave her a tug to keep her gaze off the humans like human walking an irritable dog, leaving Deidara to help the two humans through the snow.

The process was much slower now that it was only Deidara digging the path for them in the wake of the other vampires. Sasori and Kali were out of Itachi's sight before long, but Deidara assured his concerns by telling him that he could smell where they had gone and could sense Sasori's general location with him so close. The trench they made this time instead of a tunnel caused snow to pour into Itachi's boots even more and even though he wore a few layers of clothes, he was starting to feel the biting cold. When they finally stopped, they were in front of a rock face, not quite a mountain, but not a hill. Sasori and Kali were standing on the rocks above them, barely visible in the sudden increase of wind whipping snow around them as they waited. Deidara suddenly fell into a drift pile of snow, almost sinking below the surface of it. Concerned and coldness leaving him, Itachi hurried over to him and pulled him out.

"Deidara?" he called in a worried voice, brushing snow off him as he set him down on the snow packed by their feet.

"He's run out of energy," Tal said suddenly, kneeling down next to them. "Even if we can't see the sun, it's still day time. Being connected to you lets him be able to walk around, but he's not as strong as he is at night."

"Do you need to feed some?" Itachi asked, placing his hand on Deidara's back to help him sit upright, but the blond waved him off.

"I'm fine," he said in a mumble. "And I don't want to make it harder for Kali. Just need a bit of a rest, un."

The brunette looked up at the vampires above, neither coming to their aid. Perhaps they couldn't. No longer moving, the cold began to creep through his skin and into his very bones. He didn't think he could wait for Deidara to gather himself up again before he began to freeze. He took a moment to examine the wall of rocks. It didn't look so steep, and the wind had swept off most of the snow from the rocks. He could manage it. Shifting his weight on the snow, he took Deidara's arms and pulled him onto his back. The blond protested, but Itachi only hoisted him up into a better position.

"I'm not entirely useless," Itachi told him, standing upright to get a better feel of the blond on his back before carefully starting the climb, Tal following suit behind him.

"I see you've overexerted yourself," Sasori commenting when the three of them finally arrived at the flat place on the rock face. Deidara was clutching Itachi's coat as tight as a baby koala, his face buried apologetically into his scarf. Itachi set him down on the ground, panting heavily and soaked in sweat from his efforts. The climb hadn't look as steep from the bottom, but his arms felt like jelly and the cold, thin air barely filled his lungs. The vampire ignored his Maker's jab and hugged Itachi tighter as Tal slid onto the plateau, panting heavily as well.

Satisfied, Sasori and Kali turned together to walk into the opening in the rock face. Itachi couldn't tell if she was walking under her own power, or Sasori led her there.

"Are you alright?" Itachi asked Tal who was rubbing his shoulders with a pained look on his face.

"Yeah… just out of shape," the man gave a weak chuckle and cautiously followed the two vampires out of the cold.

"How about you?" he asked gently, trying to look behind him.

 _'Sorry,'_ came the miserable groan from the blond, too exhausted to speak aloud.

 _'It's alright,'_ Itachi responded, patting his knee. _'You don't need to save me every time.'_

Hoisting Deidara up higher on his back, Itachi trudged through the snow after Tal and out of the icy wind that nearly ripping him from the rock face. Kali's cave was deep and the entrance was so steep, he nearly slipped down it a few times on ice that formed from the melting and refreezing of snow. The space at the bottom was very warm, and when they caught up with the others, Itachi could see why she called it a nest. It was cluttered with many different things, some ready to close off the entrance, others in a dirty pile arranged in a nest shaped bed. Kali had crawled up to sit on it, her eyes on Tal, watching his every movement, but she gestured for Itachi to place Deidara down next to her. She took her eyes off her human for a moment as he bent to set Deidara down, but the blond growled at her like a feral cat and she averted her eyes. She knew Itachi belonged to Deidara and would not try to feed on the brunette as much as she wanted to. The Bloodstarved state wouldn't leave her after just a few short moments.

"Go get warm," Deidara murmured, pointing deeper into the cave where hot steam was pouting out towards them. "Take your wet clothes off as soon as possible to try them off so you won't get frostbitten, un. Especially your shoes and socks. When the sun sets, Kali and I will go hunting, un." He looked over at her and she seemed to think the idea over then nodded and gave them all her back.

Itachi nodded and stood, moving deeper into the caves. Tal followed behind as they began shedding their extra layers that weren't necessary in the steamy cave. It felt strange to walk around with no shoes on, but he obeyed Deidara and took them and his layers of socks off, all soaked through, and spread the wet things out on the rocks. The warm, steamy air came from a few natural hot springs that pooled among the rocks. Across the roomy space was another entrance that brought in the ice cold air that tried to cut through the steam unsuccessfully. Itachi wondered bitterly why they hadn't used this entrance instead of the climbing one, but then realized that it had been on the other side of the rocky outcrop than they had approached. With Kali in her current state, he half expected there to be bones strewn about the place, but it was empty. Vampires didn't eat meat, despite her appearance of a savage animal. She would have fed on the spot and left the carcasses for other predators to find and take advantage of.

Glancing over at his companion, he saw him already removing all of clothes to begin carefully splashing the hot water onto his limbs to warm them up and prevent his body going into shock from being so cold to so hot. Itachi noted with strange emotion that he couldn't pinpoint that he had been naked in front of people, though it was mostly Deidara, and seen more naked people in the time he met Deidara than in his entire life. Clothes were not something that came with werewolves when they returned to their human form. That was something that should have been obvious, but had startled him when he first saw them returning to their piles of clothes they had removed. Dolphus had told him once with a laugh that it was the biggest trouble about raising pups – few children enjoyed wearing clothes as toddlers and when the pups saw their parents walking around after the change, it was hard to convince them that walking around without clothes was not to be done in public. Nakedness, like everything else, was just something that he had gotten useful.

He felt Deidara's amusement somewhere up the ascending tunnel and knew he could sense what he was thinking. Grumbling at his silent teasing, he peeled the rest of his clothes and knelt to mimic Tal's movements. The water was extremely hot, but he wasn't sure if it was because the water was hot, or if he was just very cold. He began to shiver as his body began to realize that it was cold and when he couldn't stand the chilled air, he slid into the water with a sigh, leaning back against a smooth rock.

"Deidara will be fine," Tal told him in a gently voice. "The sun will be setting in a few minutes. He'll be hungry, but otherwise, his time in the sun won't cause lasting damage."

Itachi looked over at him and gave him a slight smile. "Kali will be fine, too," he replied. "Deidara won't let anything bad happen to her."

"I am forever in your debt, Itachi," the Indian man said, closing his eyes as he leaned back, exhausted, against a rock. "We are… I mean… Kali and I." Itachi had never asked how long Tal and Kali had been separated from one another, except that Kali had told Kisame that she had been fighting the poison since before he was born. Kisame couldn't be much older than himself. A few weeks had been difficult for Itachi, already he had been starting to think of himself and Deidara as one unit rather than two different people. It must have been a very long time for Tal to begin to think of himself in singular instead of plural with Kali.

They sat in silence for a long while, the hot water thawing out their frozen limbs though the icy wind outside was making small crystals formulate on their damp hair. He wondered if they looked like saru and relayed the thought to Deidara who laughed as Itachi expected him to. The warmth of the water and freezing air was a very relaxing feeling, but there was still danger nearby and with Deidara a little distance away, his brain wouldn't allow him to relax. He felt when the two vampires left – he silently wished him a good hunt – and wondered if staying in this hot spring too long would be bad for the two of them. His hands were becoming very pruned, but their clothes were still wet and their only dry clothes were in the small pack Tal had offered to carry, up in the space where Itachi had left Deidara. He supposed no one would be there, and was about to suggest that they get out and get their clothes when a dull thud sounded behind him and he looked back to see Sasori standing there staring down his nose at him having dropped the bag of their clothes at his feet.

He felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the wind. "Did you decide not to go hunting?" he asked as calmly as he could. The vampire had a strange look in his eyes.

"Someone had to stay to make sure you didn't kill yourselves," the redhead commented.

There was a stretch of silence as the vampire continued to stare down at him from an uncomfortable height. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his heart pounding nervously. He tried to calm it down, though he knew it was pointless. Sasori wouldn't be enticed to feed from him, too old to be so tempted, and everyone was afraid of Sasori.

"No."

Another long silence. Agitation began pushing apprehension away. "What do you want then?" he asked, turning his body around so he didn't have to crane his neck to look at him.

"I've just decided how you and Deidara can repay me for helping you," Sasori informed him.

Itachi swallowed, but knew this to be partially a lie. Sasori probably had decided a long time ago the payment he would demand from them, but it was probably something Deidara wouldn't like or react very positively to, so he was waiting for a chance to get Itachi alone as he had when he had wanted Itachi to convince Deidara to reopen his connection with his Maker. "How?" he asked.

"You will help me run an experiment," Sasori informed him. "Or rather, you will convince Deidara to agree to it, and then help me perform it."

"What sort of experiment?" Itachi asked slowly.

The redhead crouched down, perched on his toes instead of his feet as he rested his arms on his knees casually. His face was calm and lacked the same amount of emotion as his voice, but his eyes were different. They were so intense, Itachi wanted nothing more than to look away, but he found himself rooted to the spot, staring up at the heavily lidded eyes the color of thick, warm honey. To all who looked at him, Sasori was a child, no more than ten or twelve years old, but it was his eyes that gave him away. His eyes were old. Very old. He had seen things, done things, that no one else had done. His eyes were bottomless pools of ageless calculations, of plots and wars, of music and art, of games and torture. How many pages had been in that book? Thousands. Over five thousand he had counted, hadn't he? He felt himself shaking slightly at the weight of it all, and desperately tried to stop it before Deidara sensed his fear and came running.

"You," Sasori began, finally blinking which lessened the pressure of his gaze, "are going to convince Deidara to feed you his blood, and then I am going to drink yours."

"Feed on Itachi?" Tal's voice sounded curious and confused behind him, but Itachi gave the briefest shakings of his head he could manage, still unable to look away from Sasori, not wanting Tal to get involved in case Sasori decided that he didn't care for Tal or Kali anymore.

His brain worked madly, running thoughts from one side to the other, putting things together Sasori already had and he swallowed nervously. There wouldn't be room for negotiations, he knew, because Sasori didn't want anything else and wouldn't accept anything else. For the huge inconvenience Deidara and Itachi had given him, and all the help he gave, he wanted his treasure once more. The treasure lost in his mistake; his desperation to keep Deidara from leaving him, he ensured his inability to drink his precious blood. If Itachi drank Deidara's blood, and then Sasori drank Itachi's, perhaps there was a small possibility that Sasori could taste it yet again, or, at least, taste Itachi's immediate memory of it.

"Would that work?" Itachi questioned, his voice barely audible.

"That," Sasori replied, monotonously, "is why it's called an experiment."

"But, what if it doesn't work?" he questioned, unable to strengthen his voice at all.

"Then I will have no further use for either of you," was the ominous reply before Sasori stood and walked back up into Kali's nest, leaving him in a stunned and terrified silence.


	33. The Poisonous Bite

They stayed in Kali's gave for several days. Each sunset showed an improvement on Kali, though it seemed as though she didn't dare open her connection with Tal just yet. Deidara reasoned when Itachi asked that it would be harder to resist the desire to feed when you were so close to someone, even if it was just mentally. That didn't stop the two of them from talking almost constantly in what he had learned was Hindustani language. He wondered briefly when and how Sasori had learned the language, but mostly wondered what the two were talking about. He supposed, as Tal did most of the talking, that he was telling her what he had been up to since they had last parted, his hands gesturing as a natural story teller to entertain her during her Suntime death and Kali would watch him in adoration. Every night when the sun descended, the vampires would go out, though Sasori often stayed behind, claiming boredom. They hunted reindeer and brought pieces of it back to cook over a fire for the two humans. Itachi, though grateful for the food, found himself longing for vegetables like he never had before and after a straight week of eating nothing but meat, wondered if he would return to civilization a strict vegetarian.

Despite their affection for them, Itachi had learned very early on that vampires are not very good at feeding their humans.

Predictably, Deidara had venomously refused Sasori's demand and it had taken a lot of convincing to keep him from storming over to his Maker to take his anger out of him when something reminded him. The two of them fighting would not help Kali – or any of them, really. He was furious for days, glowering across the room at his uninterested Maker who spent his time in a comfortable looking pile of pine needles and blankets that he had selected for his Suntime death. The blond refused to discuss the matter, or to consider it, but Itachi continued to press the issue with him silently in their minds during the day when the blond couldn't easily storm away from him. Though the vampire refused to talk, Itachi spent the day hours with his arm latched around Deidara, relishing in the closeness again, tempting him to withdraw into their shared mind space. Deidara didn't want to, knowing he'd be able to comprehend all of Itachi's arguments and reasons whether he wanted to or not, but he was so very tired still and wanted to relax. The darkness in Deidara's mind couldn't touch him in their mind space.

He finally gave in on the ninth day, and together they sunk under the surface of their minds into their shared space. It no longer had the darkness that had encased it when they were under the Shadow Hunter's hold, but filled them with peace and warmth. They curled around each other, Deidara arms wrapped around Itachi's torso, while the brunette rest his head on Deidara's legs.

"I don't like it," he finally stated.

Itachi reached out and pushed Deidara's hair off his face so that he could see him better. "I know, but I don't think we can avoid it," he told him. "Sasori won't leave us be until he gets what he wants."

"What exactly is he trying to pull?" the blond raged, rubbing his face against the soft part of Itachi's stomach. "He just wants to piss me off, un! He wants your blood cause I like it and—"

"No, that's not it," Itachi interrupted. "He's got something else planned. It's nothing to do with me. It's all about you. I'm supposed to drink your blood before he drinks mine. He wants to see if he can taste you again through me… Blood has memories, right? And we have a much stronger connection then any other vampire and human sharing blood. Perhaps he'll be able to taste it. I think it's his last resort to try to be able to taste you again. It might just be a ghost of it though, I don't really see how it could possibly work…"

Deidara was quiet, bringing one arm up to rub his forehead as if he had a headache he wanted to relieve. "I'd let him have my blood if I could," he mumbled quietly. "I never liked giving it to him… I remember small bits from before Sasori-danna turned me, but not much… After he turned me though," he lifted his head to look up at Itachi, "new vampires have to drink their Makers blood to get strong and learn to control their hunger. Really old vampires can pick and choose memories they want to share though their blood. I've seen lots of vampires Sasori-danna's made, but none of them…" his voice drifted off as memories filled their shared thoughts; memories of faceless and nameless vampires that never seemed to matter or last long. "Sometimes Sasori even had them feed off of other vampires he made because he didn't like when they got attached to them, but he never did that for me. I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but he let me see all kinds of things. I felt how much he wanted my blood, and after I was changed, I wanted him to be able to feed off me again, but he can't now…"

Itachi nodded his understanding. He felt the same way about Deidara when he tasted his blood. He could feel how much the blond cared about him and how much he loved the taste of his blood. It made him happy, and Itachi wanted Deidara to be happy. "I'm worried though," Itachi commented. "If it doesn't work, will Sasori just kill us? If it does, will he keep us forever?"

Deidara boiled with rage at the very idea, but Itachi's calmness didn't allow it to get out of control and consume him as well. A balance. "I don't know, un. He might… it sounded like it, didn't it?" he mused, clutching Deidara tightly.

"It did, a little, but I don't think he'll ever kill you," Itachi said, thoughtfully. "If he did, and then he figured out a way that he could have your blood again, he'd be very upset."

Deidara suddenly burst into laughter, rolling over to lie spread-eagled as the force of his relief rolled over him. "He'd be so mad, un!" he cried, rolling onto his side again, shaking with laughter. "I think he would just kill everyone on the whole planet if that happened, un. That's how I always imagined the world would end: Sasori getting bored and killing everyone, un."

"When we do it—"

"If we do it."

"When we do it," Itachi repeated firmly. "I'd rather it be somewhere safe. Not out here… Maybe at home?"

Deidara gave him a dark look for not correcting his statement, but thought it over. "We'll have a lot of stuff to do when we get home. Maybe he'll forget."

"You know he's not going to forget," Itachi told him, sitting up so he could stretch his limbs and began fingering Deidara's hair absentmindedly. "It would only be one time. I'll be fine."

"Itachi," Deidara implored, staring up at him in concern. "Sasori's bites aren't like mine. It _hurts_ when Sasori bites people. That's why he chose _sasori_ as his name."

"Scorpion," Itachi murmured. "I know they hurt," he added. He had felt it, saw it, in both of their memories. He recalled Sasori's childish heartbreak when he was unable to drink Deidara's blood anymore and frowned a little.

Deidara, sharing the same thought, frowned back and sighed heavily. "Sometimes I feel bad for Sasori, cause he's, you know, a Child Vampire and never really had a family, and now he can't have my blood which is the only thing he really wants… but then I remember he's an asshole, so…" he shook his head and Itachi gave a soft laugh.

"You aren't exactly a wonderful person either," the brunette reminded him to which Deidara gave him a mischievous smirk.

The blond started to reply, but something seemed to catch his attention from somewhere far away and he grunted irritably. "Sasori wants us," he stated, and that wonderful, peaceful place disappeared, and they were bundled together on their own makeshift bed. Itachi opened his eyes to face Deidara who mirrored his disappointed expression – their space was just as relaxing to him – before Deidara rolled over to glare at his Maker.

"What?" he demanded in an overly aggressive tone.

Sasori raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment on his anger. "We're leaving tonight. The antidote has worked enough that she is in better control," he said, rising from where he'd been crouched down next to them. "We will need to teach her how to feed again."

"You will," Deidara corrected him, giving Itachi's arm a little nudge to get him to put his arm around him. Sasori paused, brows knitted together and the blond quickly explained, "I don't know how to, un."

The redhead gave him a contemptuous look, folding his arms as he did so. "That is true," he commented. "You never had the mindset to Make your own. You prefer them all breathing." Deidara glared at him, but didn't say anything back, so Sasori simply waved his hand as he were brushing the two of them off. "Fine, but we are leaving. When the sun begins to set, we will catch one of the trains as it passes."

The two nodded and Itachi sat up while Deidara moved his head to rest on his lap instead. "We'll be ready," Itachi stated when the vampire continued to stare at them.

"You shouldn't be so weak," Sasori said in a quiet, cold voice.

Deidara bristled angrily, but Itachi put his hand on his head to calm him. "It isn't weakness," Itachi said firmly, his dark eyes glaring at Sasori. "You turned Deidara against his will. Not everyone wants to live forever."

Sasori fixed him with an icy look. He seemed to want to argue, but changed his mind and rolled his eyes as he partially turned away again. "You have no appreciation for what we are," he said instead. "This conversation is pointless. The sun sets in two hours."

"It's okay," Itachi murmured to Deidara, pressing down on his head when the blond tried to get up again, knowing he was going to try to argue his point violently with the other vampire.

"It's not okay," the blond growled. "He's…" but Deidara didn't seem able to really explain what Sasori was and his anger seemed to shrink a little because of it and instead he crawled up to sit in Itachi's lap. "I don't want his nasty teeth in you, un. He'll hurt you and he'll enjoy it, even if his experiment doesn't work. And what if it does work? He'll want to take you away from me so he can use you as leverage to always get what he wants, un! The selfish bastard…"

A small smile crossed Itachi's lips and he decided not to remind Deidara that selfishness was something the two vampires shared. Instead, he gave Deidara an affectionate pat on the top of the head before sliding out from under him and wrapping the blankets around the blond so his body wouldn't freeze and began to gather their things. Tal was doing the same, a great smile on his face as he moved about the cave. Thanks to the hot springs, it was too warm to wear all their layers, but they were ready to be pulled on. The Indian man was tidying up the space, folding the blankets that had been strewn around messily. Itachi wondered momentarily where Kali had gotten all of these and if they had come from snow hikers who had the misfortune of wandering too close to her nest, but the thought was pushed away when he looked over at the third vampire, watching her human with tender fondness instead of hunger. If they had come from unwary travelers, it hadn't been Kali's fault, he reminded himself as he hurried to help his friend pack.

By the time they were finished, the vampires were up and ready to go themselves. They had rolled up a few of Kali's blankets to take with them since they wouldn't be traveling so luxuriously this time, but since the vampires would be helping them, the way through the snow wouldn't be so difficult. The two humans ate the last of the fried meat grudgingly and followed the three vampires out into the open air, this time free of falling snow. It had been so warm within the cave that Itachi had forgotten how horribly cold it was outside and was tempted to just turn around and go back inside, though he knew he couldn't. Kali smiled at Tal and offered her hand to him, which he took and allowed her to pull him gently onto her back to help carry him down the icy rocks. Deidara gave Itachi a beaming grin and mimicked her gesture overdramatically with a sweeping gesture, and Itachi accepted as well, wrapping his arms around Deidara's neck. They climbed down after Sasori an followed his lead in dropping down into the deep snow.

The going was slow as the vampires plodded through the snow, Sasori now in the lead without any baggage to carry, until they reached the tunnel Sasori and Deidara had dug when they arrived. Unsurprisingly, it was nearly buried in the snow again, but made an easier path through the tall walls of snow. Itachi had a moment where he wished he had his phone with him to take a photograph for Rose and the other pups, who would have loved to have seen this much snow. When they reached the tracks, Itachi and Tal climbed back onto the ground and they waited for the train to pass again. Itachi was not a fan of this plan at all, but was overridden by Sasori who claimed his imagination had died when the snow began to fall again.

They only had to wait another forty minutes, pounding the snow flat as the two humans paced to keep warm, before the rushing sound of an oncoming train echoed across the still air in the direction they had come. Itachi wasn't sure if the train was truly that loud, or if it was the heightened abilities Deidara gifted him that made it so. Either way, he had to resist letting go of Deidara's shoulders to cover his ears as the machine flew by them, threatening to tear him from the vampire's back. Deidara let out a peel of maniacal laughter as the rushing wind whipped his hair wildly around them before he hoisted Itachi up higher onto his back and leapt. The impact jarred Itachi's body so hard, he nearly fell from Deidara's back, but he managed to cling on tightly. The vampire didn't seem to notice as he climbed up the side of the train, oblivious to the wind threatening to tear them off. Sasori was crouched like a spider on the roof, the wind pulling his hair back to expose his childish face which was, as always, oddly stoic for the chaos surrounding them. Itachi had only gotten a glimpse of Kali and Tal climbing the roof towards them when Deidara tugged him from off his back and tucked him between himself and the train roof to better protect him from the wind.

It felt strange clinging to the much smaller body for support, but Deidara was able to hold Itachi down and crawl to the hatch Sasori had disappeared into without mishap. The vampire carefully lifted Itachi down into the dark hole until he couldn't reach anymore and let him fall the last few feet onto the rocking floor of the train. A few moments later, Deidara was standing next to him and Tal and Kali followed soon after.

"We have to stay in the cargo car, un," Deidara said apologetically to the two humans. "The stations are too far away to walk there… We'll find some place warm for you to sleep." His eyes turned to Itachi who was trying not to appear as cold as he actually was. He smiled when Deidara gave a soft noise of concern and Itachi waved off his worry and watched him dig around in the cargo, finally calling him to two large crates of packaged clothing that he had found after wrenching the lids off. Itachi cringed a little as Deidara tore the clothes from their packages and hoisted him up into the crate to settle into the nest he had made. By the light from Tal's cellphone he could make out Kali doing the same for Tal. "There," he fussed, climbing up as well so he could half bury his human before settling down almost on top of him like a protective hen.

"Someone is going to get into a lot of trouble," Itachi stated, readjusting himself in the piles of shirts.

"Not us," the blond smirked, reaching over to tug his hat down lower. Itachi could still sense his concern, unable to lend his human heat to keep him warm.

"I don't think we should go back to Germany," came Sasori's voice from somewhere Itachi couldn't see. "We should get off the train before it turns north to Moscow and go to my home."

"No way," Deidara growled at him.

"Stay with me," Itachi murmured, and Deidara instantly sat back down, though Itachi could feel him shifting restlessly in the dark.

"I would like to see some green after so much time in the snow," Kali told Sasori from the next crate over. Her head became visible as Tal sat up with his phone in hand again, the vampire resting her arms across the edge of the box. "Not the desert, Sasori. Deidara's home will be fine."

"It would be safer for both of you."

"I doubt that," Deidara scoffed. "Like you care anyway."

A heavy silence followed. Itachi could feel Sasori's eyes on them even if he couldn't see him and wondered what the vampire was plotting. Stating that his home was safer for them wasn't exactly Sasori's style; he didn't care whether they were safe or not, so what reason did he have for bringing it up? Why did he want them at his home? To be at his mercy? He shuddered a little to think of it.

"Itachi."

Startled, Itachi sat up and peered over the edge of the crate towards the vampire who was indeed staring at the four of them from his perch in the corner, deep in thought. "Yes?" he answered softly.

"Without being interrupted," the vampire continued, giving Deidara a look, "tell me what you have learned about the relationship between vampires and Shadow Hunters during this pointless rescue mission of yours."

Itachi glanced at Deidara whose own confusion could be felt through their connection, though Itachi couldn't see him very well. "It isn't good?" he replied, unsure of what Sasori wanted to hear.

Sasori made a sound of annoyance and Itachi could barely see him shifting to sit down fully rather than squat on the crates as if he were about to leap down on them. "That is a very light way of putting it," he stated. "Let me ask another one then. The Shadow Hunters were prepared to wage war to gain you back into their fold. A bit dramatic, wouldn't you say? They like war, yes?"

"Some of them seem to."

"Who else likes war?"

"You," Itachi suggested, still not sure what the vampires was hinting at. Another long silence followed, Sasori was waiting. Swallowing, Itachi shifted in his nest and sat up into a more comfortable position, pulling some of the t-shirts closer to him; he cringed a little knowing it would take them many days to get back to a place with a shower and made a note to suggest sneaking off and purchasing real tickets when they stopped at a station. Who liked war? Sasori liked war. So did Deidara. They were both child vampires, despite being rather old. It was a game to them. A violent game. A game that gave them freedom to do what they wanted, to kill and feed whenever they wanted. The question wasn't really 'who else likes war', it was 'who else likes the idea of war'. "Vampires," he answered softly.

"Yes," Sasori replied and in the small flashlight from Tal's phone, Itachi could see his pale arms reaching to wrap around his knees, his eyes shining in the dark. He wondered fleetingly if Sasori practiced being so terrifying.

"You didn't want the Tokyo vampires to know because it would start a war between species instead of staying within the Shadow Hunters as a civil war," he continued.

"Yes," he repeated. "War means freedom to do what we do best. Now, do you know why Child Vampires are so feared?"

"They can't handle the change and are unstable. The Court ensures they're eliminated quickly," Itachi replied, unsure of when he learned that. Perhaps Deidara's memories slipping into his own.

"And yet," Sasori began, a little pride in his voice. "You are in the presence of two Child Vampires. The only Child Vampires left. The Vampire Court did kill all the others before they exposed themselves, but they cannot kill me, and couldn't kill Deidara." Itachi felt Deidara's pride spiking a little next to him at his Maker's praise. "Deidara is a powerful ally to have for the Vampire Court, but he is a danger to them. He is powerful, and they want him on their side, but they cannot control him. Only I can control him, and they cannot control me."

"You can't control me, danna."

"Shut up." Itachi hurriedly soothed Deidara as he bristled angrily and made every indication he was about to climb out of the crate. "They cannot control him, so he is a danger to them. Disposable. An aggressive act by the Shadow Hunters would kill two birds with one stone. Remove Deidara, remove your Human Servant as a symbol of peaceful union, and give the vampires room to declare war. Did you think the Vampire Court was unaware of what transpired?"

The others were silent, waiting for Sasori to make his point. "What of one of their own diplomatic members?" Sasori continued. "One who always had total control and suddenly lost it?"

"Kali?" Tal spoke, frowning a little.

Sasori didn't answer, his eyes were locked on Itachi's who wished he would look away; his eyes bore into his skull. "Kali," Itachi finally replied, pushing his fear away so he could think, "Kali wanted peace. She was arguing for peace between the Vampire Court and the Elder Council. That's what she told me…"

"And your parents?"

The four below stared at him in shocked silence before Tal choked out, "you think the Vampire Court arranged it?" He grasped Kali's arm protectively, though he didn't take his eyes off Sasori.

"Everything in the gesture of keeping things hostile between the two sides," Sasori mused aloud. "It is pointless to go back into that and allow them to do it again, doesn't it? My home then. We will get off before the train turns north to Moscow."

"No," Deidara finally spoke up, insisting angrily, "we are going home. To our home, un! I don't care if I have to kill all the vampires in the country and Court. I am taking my human home, un!"

"It's speculation."

Sasori stared at Itachi coldly. "My speculations are rarely wrong," he murmured dangerously.

Itachi shook his head. "It is speculation. You're putting together unrelated things to convince us," he argued. "You're not part of the Vampire Court – you hate the idea of being a part of an organization, you don't know what they were doing. It might be true, but it's entirely speculation to convince us to go with you. I don't want to be stranded and at your mercy, Sasori. I want to go home. You don't have to come with us."

The vampire glared at him. "I am getting my payment," he murmured, sliding out of the phone's light to a dark corner and didn't speak for several hours.

The four in the crates glanced at one another, then Itachi sighed softly and slid back into the clothes, not wanting to discuss it further. It did sound possible, the Shadow Hunters had wanted to stop any symbolism of peace between them. Perhaps the Vampire Court felt the same. It had been Kit who had betrayed them to the Shadow Hunters, but perhaps the Court did know about it and did nothing to help. Or perhaps that was just giving both sides more power than they really had. Either way, he did not want to be at the mercy of Sasori, locked away in a place they couldn't escape from. At least at home, when Sasori visited, he would eventually leave.

Deidara remained seated for a short while, glancing from himself to Kali a few times, before sinking down to wedge himself protectively around Itachi, pressing his face into the curve of his neck with a sigh. Itachi smiled and tilted his head to rest against Deidara's who seemed pleased by the gesture, though it didn't stop the confusion circulating in his thoughts.

 _'Do you really think it's speculation?'_ the blond murmured.

 _'I don't know… I think he is trying to convince us by any means, but… I just want to go home,'_ Itachi murmured back. _'I'm tired… I want to see my friends.'_

Deidara tilted his chin up and rubbed his nose against his cheek and Itachi took that to mean he agreed.

It was snowing when they stepped out of the shuttle bus that took them to the city center. Not an angry, ominous torrent of heavy snow they had left, but a calm, peaceful snow that tickled rosy cheeks and brought a comfortable quiet to the air. The street lights cast a yellow glow on the silent street that that added to the quiet, broken only by the crunching snow under their feet that echoed gently off the dark glass of the store fronts. People forgot why they kept their stores open so late in the city, but even here it was too late for them. Deidara lead the group, walking in the middle of the street instead of the sidewalk, eyes scanning the area with a frown. Itachi wasn't sure what he was looking for, or whether it was a displeased frown or a curious one. His attention seemed to have left the immediate area, so Itachi place a hand on his back between his shoulder blades to guide him as Deidara had guided him in Tokyo. Itachi had never traveled to and from the castle without a car and didn't know exactly where they were headed to, but trusted Deidara to say something if they went the wrong way.

They had reached the main square of the city when Deidara stopped walking. Itachi was about to ask what they should do when he suddenly felt Deidara's power spread out around them. It was similar to the way Sasori had let the Shadow Hunters sense his anger and bloodlust in front of the Council, but this didn't feel so threatening. It was an announcement, Itachi realized. The Master of the City had returned and demanded attention. Itachi rubbed the goosebumps on his arms that had nothing to do with the cold and looked around. Kali's head was tilted to one side, watching Deidara intently. As a visitor, she was under his orders, while Sasori, who was under no one's orders, looked very bored.

"What if they don't accept you?" Itachi asked quietly as Deidara resumed walking.

"They will."

"What if they don't?"

"Then I'll just kill them, un."

He said it so causally, Itachi paused for a moment, but continued to keep pace with the vampire. Itachi didn't like the idea of killing people who disagreed with them, and in their current position with the Shadow Hunters, it would probably make things dangerous to kill off other vampires who could defend the city, but he was still new to vampire politics and remained silent. Very soon he began to see people. At four in the morning, the streets had been nearly empty, but now he saw faces peering at them from the windows of houses, from side streets. Their eyes gleamed in the street lights as they ventured closer. Itachi had only ever seen the vampires that lived in the castle and had never known there were so many living in the city and now they were all watching the group as they passed by. Would they accept him back after failing to overcome the power that had attacked him?

Deidara stopped and surveyed them all with such a haughty look, Itachi nearly smiled. It was so childish, yet conveyed much more than it would have on a normal child. The silence was broken by a woman stepping out onto the street, her gleaming eyes cautious as she approached.

"Meister Deidara," she murmured, bowing her head slightly. "You have returned. We have been worried for you. May I offer you my services to return you to the castle?"

"Yes," Deidara said simply, stuffing his hands into his pockets, the haughty look vanishing and the power display fading until he was once again the playful teenager who was so curious about the world around him.

"Casting lots for favors," came Sasori's nearly silent comment from behind them. They ignored it.

The vampire bought out an SUV that was big enough for all of them to fit. Deidara got into the front seat, Itachi and Sasori shared the middle and Kali and Tal sat in the back. No one spoke as the woman drove them through the snow-covered city and out into the country, passed the small farming lands until the drove through the trees that bordered Deidara's land. He heard the blond murmur something quietly as they approached and felt a small tingle on the back of his hand and wondered if that had been the magical barrier reestablished. The new vampire probably needed an invitation to enter. Itachi turned to look up at the castle and exhaled in relief; he had only lived there for a handful of months, but it still felt more like home than the poor excuse for an apartment he had lived in on his own. He felt Deidara mourn the fact that the outside walls were lacking in Christmas decorations, but he didn't voice it. The heavy wooden front doors were open wide and there were several figures waiting for them on the courtyard's cobblestone. In the light, they could see the grave stones Sam had made still decorating the center of the courtyard, but Kit's gravestone had a splash of dark paint that read 'TRAITOR' over the teasing words. Itachi wondered who had done it.

The vampires waiting for them didn't even try to hide their astonishment as the group climbed out of the car and Deidara thanked the driver, who pulled away as quickly as she could. The Master of the City's council stared at the Child Vampire and his human with wide eyes, growing even wider when they saw the others with them. Only Belle seemed composed as she folded her gloved hands in front of her like a proper lady and bowed her head slightly to them, though she never took her eyes off of the blond. Itachi wondered if Belle made it a policy to never appear surprised or ruffled; the thought seemed to reach Deidara who gave a small humph of laughter. Itachi didn't like the way many of the others seemed disappointed and wondered if any of them would challenge Deidara right now, but the blond walked right through them with a smirk on his face as though he had fooled them in some sort of bizarre game.

The entrance still held signs of the Shadow Hunter's attack. The elaborately decorated rugs had blood on them and there were still bodies of dead humans and vampires lying where they had died. Itachi swallowed thickly, smelling through his connection with Deidara the blood and death. There was Shadow Hunter and wolf blood there too, but their bodies were nowhere to be seen. It had been weeks since the attack, Itachi felt horrified that these were still here.

 _'Hunters and wolves keep their dead,'_ came Deidara's murmuring voice in his head. _'Go upstairs, I'll be up as soon as I finish here, un.'_

 _'I'm fine,'_ Itachi assured him, taking his eyes off the bodies to look back at the vampires filing in behind Sasori. "Where are the packs?"

Silence followed. "Answer him," Deidara growled without turning.

A sharp tension suddenly filled the air at the order, but still none of them stepped forward to immediately challenged the Master. Itachi couldn't tell if they were angry or scared of him. "They remain in their wing of the castle," one finally responded in a gruff voice. "Are you expecti—"

"Yes," Deidara interrupted, rocking back on his heels.

"Are you going to exp—"

"Nope," he said, finally turning his head back to look at their angry expressions. "Send a message to Chloe Engel to see me in the evening if she is available.

"What are you doing now?" one of the female vampires inquired, a little snidely.

"We have been traveling for many days," he grinned. "I'm putting my human to bed, un."

"You think we're going to just allow you to return with no explanation?" the first vampire demanded. "After that attack, through your supposed impenetrable magical barrier, and then he," he pointed to Sasori, "comes and murders one of your humans, and now you just show up like you've gone off on one of your childish trips and are not going to explain a single damn thing?"

Deidara regarded him intently and, despite the fact that he was quite smaller than all the adults, he seemed to be looking down on them all. Itachi wondered if it was a train he had picked up from Sasori or if it was something the two of them both happened to share. "I left instructions to be followed, un," he said, turning his eyes to Bell who allowed the corners of her mouth to upturn slightly. "I don't think I need to indulge anything else to you and if you delay me anymore, I will kill you."

"And who is this?" the female vampire demanded, though in a less aggressive voice, gesturing to Kali.

She seemed to draw herself up though she hadn't changed her posture and looked at the woman. "I am Kali," she said with such authority that her ragged appearance could barely be seen, "Lady of the Court, child of Mohini." Her eyes drifted to Belle and they shared a friendly smile.

The blond gave the others a beaming smile to show he was entirely satisfied with himself and nudged Itachi through the entrance hall and up the stairs. Not wanting to see it, Itachi closed his eyes and Deidara paused. "It is disgraceful that you have left this here," the vampire stated, turning to glare down at the other vampires.

"You would need a reminder if you returned," came a soft murmur though it was hard to tell where it came from.

"This will be cleaned up before the sun rises," the blond scowled, then guided Itachi up the stairs, through the hallways until they came to his own corridor. "Easy-peasy," he stated, though in a quiet voice so as not to awaken anyone sleeping. "Kali, would you prefer your own room, or would you like to stay with Tal?" He gestured to a room Itachi had never been inside, but assumed it was a guest space.

"So long as there is blood for me to drink before the sun rises, I will be fine with Tal," Kali told him with a smile. Itachi decided he liked her smile a lot.

"I'll get some for you," Tal told her, reaching out to touch her cheek gently and walked away towards the upper kitchen hall.

"Rose is going to be so happy tomorrow," Deidara said to Itachi, who smiled at the thought. "She won't leave you alone. I bet she'll come bursting in as soon as she smells you, un."

"I look forward to seeing her," Itachi said, honestly. He tried not to think about what had happened, the loss Kit's betrayal had caused, the absence of part of the pack. He wondered if it would be the same when he woke up, wondering if the others were really okay or if no one had bothered to check on them. Deidara seemed to sense the same thing and gave a little sigh, looking down the hall where Itachi knew Sam and Grey's rooms were. "Would you like to stay in my room tonight?"

"Yeah," Deidara said, brightening instantly. They started to walk towards the door, but stopped and turned sharply. "There's plenty of rooms in the house, take your pick and leave us alone damnit."

Startled, Itachi looked back and saw Sasori still standing a few inches away from them. "I'll sleep where I want to," the vampire said with a raised eyebrow.

"Itachi's room is off limits, un!" the blond growled venomously.

"Where ever I want," Sasori repeated coldly.

Itachi stepped between them before they started fighting in the hallway. "My room is private," he stated firmly. "You will get what you want, but please not tonight. We've been through a lot. Let me rest."

" _You_ have been through a lot," Sasori corrected smugly. "Deidara had survived much worse. It is your human weakness that has been holding him back now."

Itachi clamped his mouth shut, a little hurt by the words thrown at him, but Deidara tugged him back to be safely tucked behind him. "I like it, un."

"You love humans too much," Sasori commented. "You always have."

"I never wanted to be a vampire," Deidara hissed under his breath. "I never wanted this!" He nudged Itachi into the bedroom and slammed the door shut on Sasori's face, pressing his hands against the thick wood as though the redhead was trying to enter. "Go away. Go away. Go away," his whisper was barely audible against the door.

The room was in total darkness. He could barely tell if his eyes were open or shut, but he knew this was his room. He could tell by the feel of the floor under his feet where it transitioned to the oriental rug. Despite the change in the entrance hall and the loneliness of the castle's quiet, his room felt untouched in his absence. He took a deep breath. It smelled like his room, though the pine and hickory scent that often came from his fireplace was now a distant thought in the room. By memory, he walked to his closet and turned on the light so he could pull on his warm sleeping clothes. He picked up the pajama set that Deidara left in his room and turned the light out. Something touched his arm. He would have jumped if he hadn't known it was Deidara. The blond led him deeper into the room, though he didn't need the help, and after the blond pulled on the new clothes, they climbed into the bed.

It was still messy from his thrashing fear when he had felt Deidara's pain. The room was so dark he couldn't see anything in front of his face, but he felt around until he had the edges of his blankets and pulled them straight. Deidara didn't get under the covers, Itachi couldn't see him, but heard him rubbing his hands against his thighs where he knelt on the bed. "I'm sorry." The voice was so small, he almost didn't recognize it as Deidara's.

"What for?" Itachi asked, reaching out for him. His fingers found his arm and he reached around more until he could tug him closer. The blond followed his pull, but seemed reluctant.

"Everything," came the soft voice. "I've ruined your life, un."

Itachi frowned, sitting up straighter and turning to face him as best he could. He might not be able to see anything, but he was certain that Deidara could see just fine. "I don't think you've ruined my life," he stated.

"I have."

"No, you haven't," Itachi insisted. "I'm happy here with you."

"You would have been better off if I had just left you alone, un."

Dumbstruck, Itachi wasn't sure what to do or say. He had never heard Deidara speak like this. Not overconfident, fun-loving Deidara who was scared of nothing. Something Tal had told him weeks ago came back to him when he was explaining how to manage the melding of personalities when the shared their souls. Deidara's more aggressive personality, the elder of the two, would have come through first, leaving Itachi to struggle to separate him from himself, but Itachi's would be there as well. He felt a twinge of regret that it was his doubts, his depression, and his self-hatred that clung to Deidara now. He didn't want Deidara to feel that when he himself knew they were lies. Blushing furiously at what he was about to do, he groped blindly in the dark and wrapped his arms around the blond, pulling him into a hug and opened their connection wider so he wouldn't just be getting words, but Itachi's own feelings. "You know that I wouldn't be better off," he said in a gentle voice. "You've been in my head. You know… I know you're upset that you couldn't protect everyone, but that isn't your fault. No one hurt me, they hurt you. Look at me. I'm okay, we're home."

"I left you behind."

"I found you."

"Kit tried to kill you…"

"I got away safely."

"The Hunters tried to take you away from me."

"We made it back safely."

"Stop it."

"No, Deidara, you stop. I know you're upset," Itachi said, hugging him tightly and rubbing his cheek against Deidara's. "It's not true, none of it was your fault. That's… that's me you're feeling, my depression, before you found me."

"That doesn't make it not true, un."

"I'm telling you it isn't," Itachi insisted. "You saved me… I don't think I was going to survive another year on my own. You brought me back…" Deidara didn't respond, but continued to sit on the bed, feeling miserable. Itachi gave a soft sigh and opened the other door in his mind to their shared space, feeling Deidara falling into it as well as they physically laid down on the bed. Together in their shared space, Deidara finally wrapped his arms around Itachi as well, burying his face against his chest. His feelings crushed their space and they felt them together like they were one mind, but Itachi held on to his truth. They were safe and it wasn't Deidara's fault and slowly, the blond calmed down as well.

"It's alright," Itachi told him. "You're just tired and been through a lot. We're okay now."

Suddenly he was pulled out of their space and back into his own head. Their minds ripped apart so suddenly, he scrambled for something to anchor himself, unsure of where he was or who he was. Was he Deidara? Or Itachi. Itachi. He was Itachi. Latching onto that thought he steadied himself. Deidara still clutched him like a child, the emotional overload he wasn't used to making it harder to find himself again. Itachi suddenly realized something other than Deidara was grabbing him and he flung his arm out, but it was caught by the person who had yanked them back into reality.

"Calm down," came a familiar voice. An annoyed one.

"Sasori!" Deidara's snarl seemed less human than he had ever heard. The blond tried to launch himself from Itachi at his Maker, but the vampire had a hand on his chest to easily pin him down. Itachi couldn't see anything in the dark, so he released Sasori's arm and reach to turn the nightstand light on. Sasori was sitting on the bed, still holding Deidara down on the bed, but only looked mildly annoyed rather than aggressive. Itachi hurriedly reached up and pulled Deidara across the bed, shushing him in soothing tones in their minds for him to calm down. When he had, scowling angrily at Sasori, Itachi turned to the redhead. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I'm collecting my reward."

"I said not tonight!" Deidara hissed.

"I have waited long enough," Sasori said, his voice calm. "And you know how much I hate waiting, Deidara. I've had enough of you two. Give him your blood. Now. That is a direct command."

Itachi felt Deidara start in surprise, staring at his Maker with eyes wider than he had ever seen them. He looked up at Itachi who understood that the bond between Maker and their vampires made it impossible for him to refuse a direct order and also that Sasori had never used one on him before. The blond sat up and used his teeth to tear open his forearm before holding it out for Itachi apologetically. He felt him shaking slightly as he took his arm, looking over at Sasori who stared from the wound to Itachi impatiently. Sighing softly and wishing he could tell Sasori to stuff it, he put his mouth to the wound and began to drink Deidara's blood. It never tasted as normal blood did. There was still a hint of metal, but it was thicker and sweeter and full of memories, worries, and affection. Mostly worries. He could feel how scared he was for Itachi's wellbeing. Sasori was cruel, his bites were crueler. Itachi felt himself growing more nervous just from tasting it from Deidara. Drinking blood always seemed very intimate for Itachi as well, which made Sasori's wild and staring eyes even more uncomfortable. The vampire was crouched as though ready to spring at them, but seemed to be holding his breath, possibly so he wouldn't be tempted to taste the blood he wanted so badly directly from the source.

"More," he croaked, reaching out to nudge Itachi's shoulder with the tips of his fingers as he paused. Deidara gave a threatening growl, but obeyed and made a new deep tear in his arm as the other began to heal. Itachi drank from this one too, but as the wound began to close up, Sasori pulled him away and sunk his teeth into Itachi's chest where his clavicle met his shoulder before Deidara could open his mouth to warn Sasori to be gentle.

Every muscle in his body wanted to throw the vampire off. Deidara's fangs were a light pinch before his venom made it pleasant and then pleasurable. Sasori's fangs only brought pain. It started with the initial bite and then seemed to slowly creep through his skin like poison, spreading until his whole body burned with the pain. He felt Deidara clutching at the corners of his mind, trying to take some of the pain away, but it was in his skin and not his mind. His fingers dug into Sasori, but the vampire didn't seem to notice. He would not scream. He would not. But he wanted to so badly.

He heard Deidara made a soft whimpering sound and Sasori's teeth finally let go of his bite. As soon as he did, Deidara shoved his Maker away and dragged Itachi, wincing, as far from Sasori as he could without leaving the bed. He held him like an oversized injured doll, stroking his arm as if it would alleviate the pain that throbbed from the bite. It was already healing from the blood he had previously drunk, but so much slower than usual. Something in Sasori's bite slowed the process.

The pain finally ebbing away, Itachi sat up cautiously and looked across the mattress. Sasori sat on the bed where Deidara had pushed him, his hands by his knees for support, staring down at his fingers as he sucked on his lower lip slowly as if to get every drop of blood he had taken. If it worked, would he ever leave them? Would he force them to do this all the time? If it didn't work, would he kill them both? The room was quiet except for the small breathy growls from Deidara. It took several moments before Sasori seemed to shake himself out of his trance and look up at the two of them with an expression Itachi had never seen on the redhead's face before.

Deidara was too venomously angry to speak, but Itachi could hear the quieter emotion from the blond. Worried for his friend. He voiced it for the blond, "Danna?"

Sasori blinked and tilted his head to the side, observing him as if he didn't understand what he had heard. Itachi knew his voice didn't match the name. The vampire had heard it as if it were Deidara because Itachi had been voicing the blond's thoughts, but it had been Itachi's voice. His large, honey brown eyes stared at Itachi's red ones. His old eyes seemed to finally match his childish face. He looked so lost.

Then it was gone.

Sasori slid off the bed, much too high for him to have done it so gracefully, and walked to the door. He paused a moment, staring at the wood, then turned to give them his normal, slightly annoyed look. Then he, like the lost expression on his face, was gone.

"Do you think it worked?" Itachi murmured after several long moments of silence.

"I don't know," Deidara growled, getting off the bed so he could stalk around the bed to relieve some of his anger. He stopped, reaching out to touch the door Sasori had closed behind him, then pulled back as if it had scalded him and returned to Itachi. "We're still alive," he commented, then reached out to touch Itachi's chest. "Bastard…"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," Itachi told him quietly. He watched Deidara examining the wound that was finally starting to close, though not as neatly as Deidara's did, and shivered at the thought of Deidara going through that for months on Sasori's whim. Suddenly, he didn't feel very sorry for Sasori anymore. He didn't care how guilty Deidara felt, it was not his fault that Sasori couldn't physically torture him anymore. Without the attachment to Sasori that Deidara had, Itachi was free to see Sasori for the narcissistic psychopath he was.

Stretching he legs out, he slid them under the blankets and Deidara moved to tuck him in before crawling under the covers with him. "Sleep now," Itachi murmured, reaching out to turn off the nightstand light. "Rebuild empire tomorrow."

Deidara made a soft noise that was half a grunt of agreement, half amusement, but he was still upset that Sasori had bitten him. Resting down next to him, he reached up to gently run his finger along the scars forming around the bite. He fell asleep to Deidara muttering angry curses at his Maker as he refortified the barrier in his mind between them, but Itachi found at the moment, he could care less about the redhead, happy to finally be sleeping in his own comfortable bed until he was awoken four hours later by his door being thrown open and an assortment of happily screaming werewolf children throwing themselves on his bed.


	34. Home

Despite Deidara's remarks of 'easy-peasy', it took a small handful of months for the castle to regain its stability. Many vampires, not just those who lived in the castle, did not welcome their return. A Master of the City was supposed to remain in the city and govern, protect, not run off to have an adventure at a moment's whim, but Deidara did it all the time. On this occasion, there had been an attack – Shadow Hunters in their midst killing unchecked – while he had been away. Many demanded for him to step down, and of course he refused. Those vampires were given the choice to leave, or to challenge him. Itachi had spent many of these nights in the company of the werewolf families, not wanting to witness those that challenged his vampire dying under his hand. Those that remained who opposed him left or simply cowered into submission.

Many meetings in the Master's council commenced, much to Deidara's disappointment. Itachi was much better at this portion of the recovery process, which meant Deidara eventually left the meetings to Itachi and he checked in through their connection to contribute. Of the six vampires in Deidara's council, three remained; one had been killed by the Shadow Hunters as they invaded the castle, one had lost a challenge to Deidara, and the third left. Belle remained, smiling her knowing smile as she entered the chamber they held their meetings, Markus, and Anita, one of the vampires he had never been introduced to and had to hurriedly ask Deidara when she greeted them.

The remaining humans were relieved to see them again, Sam had cried when she woke up to find Deidara returned and had surprised Itachi by hugging him as well, apologizing for what her friend had done. All seemed unharmed, but shaken, save for Wes who had continued to work in the gardens as if nothing had transpired, though he often seemed lost in thought, staring across the yards to the old oak tree. The werewolves were also very pleased to see them both, the pups beginning to follow Itachi around whenever they could as though worried that he would leave them again. He spent most of his free time outside to watch them play while their parents worked in the city, feeling Deidara at the edges of his mind trying to touch the sun shine again. He had never seen spring like this before, never imagined there could be so many flowers in one place and found the stress and pains of their experiences with the Shadow Hunters fading.

Deidara ignored the summons to Rome as long as he could, allowing Kali and Tal to become stronger before he would allow them to be on their own again at the Courts mercy. When they finally threatened them to come, the four packed for a short stay and flew out. Both Itachi and Deidara had had quite enough of councils and courts and refused to stay long despite the Vampire Courts attempts to make them. Kali wouldn't explain how she had come to control her Bloodstarved state and Tal wouldn't say why Sasori had wanted him to travel with him. During the trip to Rome, the vampires had agreed that perhaps the Vampire Court wasn't any more trustworthy than the Master of Tokyo. They hadn't asked the humans' opinions, but they were too busy discussing literature to care.

Kali had become stronger every day since they climbed onto the freezing train; the feral appearance faded as she fed on blood packets, and Belle's humans who had volunteered to help her, and Tal when he offered. She explained to Itachi when asked if Tal tasted as wonderful to her as he did to Deidara, that she personally preferred certain flavors of blood that her Silluetu didn't have.

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked, watching another Indian woman painting the vampire's palms.

"Well, I prefer women's flesh," she said, her dark eyes twinkling with humor.

"But you and Tal…" he began, feeling confused and stupid for it.

"It's like any relationship," she explained to him. "Each one of them is different and unique; there isn't a guideline or plan that must be followed. Some contain sex, some do not. Many vampires don't ever choose a certain human to keep as a companion, as you know. Some do when they are first changed because they still retain their human culture, but it fades as we grow older. I love Tal, he is my dearest friend and my heart, but that does not mean that we are physically attracted to one another. When I first met him, I felt my very soul leap for joy and I knew he was my soul mate, but that has always been the extent of our relationship. I do feed from Tal when I need it, but it isn't the base of our partnership. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, I suppose," Itachi replied. "I never thought about it, I guess. Deidara likes to feed on me, and … other things," he blushed a little, but somehow talking to Kali wasn't as awkward as talking to anyone else, "but he's worried he'll hurt me."

"I often worry I'll hurt Tal, or any human," she murmured. "We are so much stronger than you humans and until we grow use to our strength it takes care not to accidentally break you. When I was first poisoned, I didn't notice its effects. I thought I was just hungry… one night I fed on Tal without asking and I hurt him. I stopped myself, but I was so terrified because I had almost kill him. I tried to run and hide, but he was always there at the edges of my mind, always there to whisper comfort to me, trying to help." She held up her finished hand as the woman began to work on the other, watching the paste dry and stain her skin. "I always knew where he was, so I closed off my mind to him. It was so painful, but I knew if I always knew where he was, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from hunting him down and accidentally killing him. But no more," she smiled at Itachi. He thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, with her long hair cleaned and swept off her face with smoky lines highlighting her kind, dark eyes. She was playing dress up, she had told him when he came to talk with her while Deidara was talking to the Court vampires. After so many years, she wanted to dress as she once did in the traditional dress of an Indian woman of her status. The mehndi was usually for festivals and weddings, but Kali loved them dearly and missed having them.

"Do you not like the other things?" she asked gently after a pause.

He felt himself flushing a little and he looked down at his knees. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I guess I do, but it's a little … embarrassing."

"Sex is very intimate," she admitted, still smiling in understanding. "But so is sharing your soul, which sometimes makes me feel more vulnerable than being naked with someone." Itachi gave a slight nod, unsure of what to say and made a note to think it over when he got a chance. "You two will be fine," Kali added, catching his attention. "You are very quiet, but you are strong. You're strong enough to grow with him without being overwhelmed, and maybe one day you will put an end to the darkness in his mind."

He blinked. "Do you know what that is?" he asked softly. He wondered if it was her perception that gave her knowledge of its presence or if Deidara had told her about it.

"I don't," she murmured softly, her face growing sad. "I am sure you've aware that Deidara had been in an asylum when Sasori found him. During his time, people assumed anyone who thought or acted differently was possessed by demons. I believe that Deidara did, or does have some… nowadays they are called mental illness, or perhaps a disability. I don't like those terms, personally, but I don't know what else to call it. I think you make it better for him though. He seems much happier than he had been when I left him."

"What do you think it is?" he asked, even more softly. It felt strange to talk about the blond when he wasn't there, but sometimes Deidara was not one to have sensitive conversations with and he did want to know more about him.

"Perhaps you should study psychology and try to figure it out," she said, not unkindly. "I don't know much of such things, but he is happy with you and I can tell you're happy with him.

He was happy with Deidara.

On their way back to Germany, he told the blond about the conversation, and Deidara insisted there was nothing wrong with him. "I'm not broken," he stated so firmly, Itachi wondered if he was repeating something someone else had said. Itachi hadn't implied that he was broken, but Deidara didn't take it personally. Itachi didn't bring it up again. When they returned home, they began contracting workers to help return the house to its previous state, Deidara still annoyed that the vampires had left it in ruin when he had gone. Chloe had reestablished the barriers when Sam had gotten word to her, and Deidara had tightened the strength of the spell that made it so that the packs could run safely again and sleep soundly. They ran together over the acres and acres of Deidara's land, hunting rabbits and playing in the snow that still clung to the ground.

Itachi liked to watch them.

They hadn't seen or heard of Sasori since the night he had fed on Itachi. Deidara had followed his scent through the house after the sun had set again and confirmed that he had went to spend the day in the room behind his own portrait, but no one had seen him leave. Neither of them could figure out whether or not his experiment worked, but Deidara confidently said it didn't matter as long as Sasori was gone. He mentioned in passing while Itachi sat in his favorite chair by the fire in the library reading that the vampire was asleep.

Itachi looked up at him curiously where he was sitting on the floor staring down at a puzzle he was working on. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"What?" Deidara lifted his head from where it had been resting in his palm.

"You said 'Danna's sleeping'," Itachi told him.

"Oh, did I?" Deidara looked mildly surprised and thought for a moment then shrugged. "I think he is. I can't feel him very easily now, un."

"I thought vampires couldn't sleep." Itachi slipped his bookmark in between the pages to hold his place and gave the blond his full attention.

"Well… no, it's not really sleeping, but some old vampires can kind of go into this state of… sleep like?" Deidara looked confused as he tried to explain it, spinning a puzzle piece between his fingers. "You know how sometimes Sasori will just start staring off into space, like he forgot he had a body? It's like that, but you do it in your mind space where there's no more thoughts or memories. You know, it's like those movies where the vampires sleep and come out in a whole new era."

"I don't think I've seen any movies like that."

"I seriously need to make you watch movies more often, un," Deidara muttered. "It's kind of like that though. He does it when he's bored and has had enough of the world, un. It's not interesting enough unless there's something fun to do, un."

"Don't you get bored?" Itachi grinned at him a little and the blond shared it.

"No way, un! There's always something new to see and do, isn't there? I'm not as old as Sasori is. Will you get bored?"

Itachi glanced around the library, the werewolf pups sitting at a table across the room doing some after-dinner school work together. Would he get bored? Definitely not. He was one of the few humans in the world that could have exactly what he wanted. All these books in the library, all the books in the world. He had infinite time to read. That was all he wanted. He didn't have to pick just one topic to study due to a shorter life span. He could study many things in as many places. Sam and Grey had been talking to him about taking national tests to get credit for high school so that he could possibly take official university classes. Deidara both liked and hated this idea because he knew it would make Itachi happy, but also meant there would be times he couldn't keep him safe. The world was still not safe for them. Kisame had come to see him before they had left for Rome, giving him a small update. A massive civil war between the Shadow Hunters had broken out and it had spanned across the globe. Kisame didn't seem to mind though, he was strangely having fun with it and it made Itachi queasy to think of how close he had come to being forced into that lifestyle.

"Itachi~"

The brunette forced himself out of his thoughts and resumed the smile at Deidara. "No, I won't be bored. You wouldn't let me be bored," he told the vampire, whose grin broadened and nodded. "But I'm still confused about Sasori. I don't understand why he just left. It's bothering me."

Deidara pursed his lips in thought than wiggled his fingers in the air. "I don't know, and I don't care, un. We're free!"

Itachi gave a small nod, but wasn't very convinced. Sasori didn't seem that simple of a person. And they weren't free regardless of anything Deidara said or hoped for. He glanced down at his phone and scrolled through the list of tasks he had made that needed to be done. That was alright. He liked being busy.

"Itachi," came Deidara's little playful whining voice. He looked up and the blond had crawled over to him and rest his chin on his knee. "Come to the city with me."

Itachi considered it a moment, then finally stood. "Alright," he murmured, replacing his book onto his desk. Deidara grabbed his arm and dragged him through the house and out the front door. The brunette was about to ask whether or not they should have gone to the garage when Deidara hoisted him up and ran from the castle as Itachi scrambled to hold onto the vampire with the wind whipping his hair back. "I hate it when you do that," he muttered when Deidara had set him on solid ground again.

The blond giggled and held his hand out for him. With an exasperated shake of his head, Itachi took it and they began walking down the city streets together. He could feel the blond's happiness that he would take his hand now and wondered when it was that he began accepting it. Itachi watched the light snow falling from the street lights and wondered when spring would come to stay. This far north winter seemed to last longer - a few weeks of spring like weather, then more snow, and he had been too nervous and stressed to observe the weather until it had become summer and fall.

"We should go somewhere, un," Deidara suggested suddenly, stopping to look at an advertisement that contained a picture of a world map. "Pick a place!"

"We don't have time for that," Itachi told him, pointedly not looking at him so he wouldn't have to see the pouting face the vampire made. "We have a lot of work to do, and I still want to relax and… be home."

"I hate work," he groaned, bumping his head against his shoulder when Itachi wouldn't give into his pout.

"I know, but the faster we get it done, the sooner you can do fun things," Itachi reminded him. "I like work… I'm learning a lot which will be useful later."

"Then we'll go see the world, un!" he said unperturbed.

"I suppose if you want to," Itachi said, though his thoughts were back on the comfortable space the library gave. If he was going to be honest, he never wanted to leave it. Traveling the world with a vampire tended to lead to danger instead of just fun.

"We should go to space one day, un!" the blond continued. "That'd be fun, right?"

"I really don't think vampires would survive in space," Itachi told him seriously, bringing his attention back down as they started walking again, passing shoppers and ignoring the inhuman gleam in the eyes of some.

"We'll find out together some day," Deidara declared, swinging their arms together as he grabbed at Itachi's hand again. "I want to see an exploding star."

"You'll die," Itachi informed him.

"Maybe," the vampire smirked, stretching his arms over his head.

"I cannot imagine a scenario where you would survive being anywhere near an exploding star," Itachi insisted.

"Well, maybe that's how we should go out, un," he snickered. "When we're so tired of the world and can get nothing new out of it, we'll go out in a crazy star explosion!"

Itachi turned his head to stare at the blond, then quietly turned away to avoid making a comment on the blond's thrill at the possibility of their deaths. He wasn't quite ready to prepare for that when he only just started out his new life as a temporary immortal. There was so much time now, time to do everything. "Are you going to stop me from going to university?" he asked instead.

Deidara made the face he made every time Itachi mentioned a situation in which they would be separated. "I don't think you'd let me stop you, but I'm just worried you won't be safe on your own, un," he muttered. "What if I say yes and you tell me you want to go off to like, America, or something? It's so big, I'll never find you."

"You won't lose me," Itachi corrected him with a slight roll of his eyes. How could he when they had shared their souls.

"Did you pick something you want to study?" Deidara asked, looking mildly interested. Itachi gave a small smile, knowing Deidara wasn't exactly interested in what he wanted to study, but wanted to know of his interests.

"Maybe history… or psychology," Itachi replied, knowing without looking at Deidara was giving him a suspicious look. "Mostly history. I'm interested in comparing the history of the world with real history… you know, with paranormal creatures in their proper place." Though he doubted the classes would be interesting as Sasori's stories. "Is it okay to go to university though? It could get expensive…"

"Yeah well," Deidara waved him off casually. Itachi was less satisfied. Deidara didn't really understand money. "Though… I'll need to get a new accountant won't I… Belle keeps telling me that, and I need more humans…"

"Just from losing one?"

"Not really, but it would help," Deidara said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. But he was putting it off because he didn't want to leave Itachi. "And… and Sam needs a friend. Cause she lost Kit."

"That's not really how friends work," Itachi told him.

"Sure, it is," Deidara said cheerfully. "You lose one, and get another, un!"

Itachi didn't argue as they continued to walk, the snow that hadn't melted crunching under their shoes. Sometimes it was hard to remember with everything else that Deidara was still young and was unable to think as people normally did. He wondered what sort of people the vampire would bring home. People had called Deidara's humans 'strays', but other vampires called theirs 'human acquaintances'. They were like servants who offered meals to the vampires, but perhaps they were still friendly with them. The humans that lived in the Vampire Court were like slaves, but Deidara called his friends. They were runaways, homeless, unwanted, but clever. For all his selfishness, his rudeness, and his craziness, Deidara sympathized with them and gave them a home and a chance to get back on their feed to live again or live with him. Deidara had called Jack when they had arrived home, explaining what had happened. Jack was still in France going to school, and as the youngest of Deidara's humans, he wasn't as dependent on Deidara's blood to continue being young as the others. Deidara gave him the option of staying with him, or continuing his life as a human – though Deidara assured him that he would continue to look after Jack. Shaken, Jack had asked if he could think about it for a while and Deidara obliged.

"I'll make sure you get a say in who comes to live here," Deidara told him suddenly, sensing part of his nervous shyness.

"I'd like to go see Chloe Engel tomorrow," Itachi said suddenly, looking down at his phone. "I wanted to talk to her about some things, but I won't be gone long."

"Oh, alright," Deidara said rolling his eyes grandly. "Work, work, work. Let's get all that work done so we can have some fun adventure, un." He reached out and gave Itachi's hair a tug. "You need a haircut…"

Itachi gave a soft chuckle and reached to flick his hair out of the blond's grasp as they continued to walk. "You've been saying that since the first day I arrived in Germany," he reminded him. "I have yet to receive a single trim."

Deidara's eyes widened slightly, tilting his head like a confused dog. "Really?" he asked. "How often do I say it?"

"At least once a week."

"Damn," Deidara muttered, shaking his head a little. "It's like I forget the second I say it, un. Let's do it soon, or it'll get longer than mine, which is just weird."

"Yes," Itachi replied, smiling again. He looked around as they turned down familiar streets. Every so often his eyes would linger on something that wasn't quite right – a house with an extra door, a woman with bark like skin, a man with reflective eyes. There would be more in the city, but Deidara enjoyed walking around at night to remind people that he was still the vampire's Master of the City, daring someone to attack him. He could feel Deidara's growing obsession with keeping him safe and eliminating any and all threats around hm.

"Maybe I'll come to school with you, un!" Deidara grinned, commenting aloud on his thoughts. "I haven't been to school in years, what if I've forgotten everything?"

Itachi gave a sigh and glanced over at him. "You can't Deidara. You have a city of vampires to run," he reminded him.

"Stop being so damn responsible," Deidara complained, puffing his cheeks out. "I can leave if I want to."

"People will be angry with you," Itachi told him softly. "Someone will try to overthrow you."

"They'd have to kill me to take the title from me," Deidara explained, grinning devilishly. "And if someone tries to take my castle away, I'll just take it back."

"But I don't want you to die… I don't want you to get hurt," Itachi said softly, reaching out to awkwardly pat his shoulder.

Deidara threw his head back to laugh aloud in response, but he took Itachi's arm, twirling him a little than sank his teeth into his arm. Itachi had to bite down on his lip to keep himself from crying out and his body reacted to his venom. Still he made a soft groan and stumbled back into the wall, yanking his arm out of Deidara's mouth when he made no move to remove his fangs to make the venom stop. Deidara was giggling and several people walking by averted their eyes in amusement. _'Now I kind of want you to die,'_ he grumbled.

Deidara laughed again and moved to press up against him, rubbing his hips against him and made him feel even more disgusting. "You like it, un," he crooned, leaning up to kiss his jaw before moving towards his neck.

"There are people around," Itachi hissed, gripping Deidara's arms as he tried to push the blond off him, fearing his fangs in his neck.

"So?" Deidara snickered.

"They're watching us!"

"Who cares, un."

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut. Deidara was impossible sometimes. ' _I care,'_ he insisted, trying to push all his discomfort into the thought. When he opened his eyes, Deidara had taken a step back and looked lost and confused. Itachi gave a grateful exhale, though he knew Deidara was upset about feeling all that. Over the blond's shoulder, he saw a few people glancing over at them then share a smirk as they continued walking. He didn't think he would ever grow used to the way people around vampires thought. As if every relationship between humans and vampires had be openly sexual for anyone's entertainment. Itachi didn't dislike that side of it, but he definitely preferred private interactions.

In silence, they went back to the castle, the slow way this time, Itachi feeling dirty with the mess in his pants so he hurried up to his room as soon as they arrived to get out of them. He felt Deidara's childish eyes on him as he left him at the front doors. In his room, he breathed in the familiar smell of the fireplace crackling softly, happy to have it back, the warmth a comfort with the still chilly air. The shower felt wonderful against his back as he cleaned himself off, grumbling privately at Deidara and sat down on the tile floor to enjoy the water a bit more. Several moments later, Deidara crept in cautiously. He slipped under the around the glass border and rest his chin on Itachi's knee, staring at him with wide, concerned eyes and ignoring the water that poured down on his clothes and hair. Itachi gave him a smile, so Deidara smiled back, pulling his clothes off and moved to sit next to him under the stream.

"I'm sorry," he finally said quietly.

"I know you are," Itachi replied, pushing his bangs off his forehead, wondering if he should wash his hair while he was here.

"I think we should just go," Deidara said, inching closer to him. "Let's go on a new adventure. I can give up my title and we can go have fun."

"That would be a very bad idea right now," Itachi said, shaking his head but still smiling. "Particularly financially. I'm human, Deidara, I still need to eat food and clothes, and I don't intend to steal for it."

"But I have money," Deidara reminded him, holding his hand out as if to demonstrate his wealth. "I think…. I should I guess."

Itachi gave a soft laugh. "You're such a teenager sometimes," he said, then turned to face him. "Let's just relax here for a bit. I like the idea of 'home' and would like to relish in that for a bit."

Deidara gave a dramatic roll of his eyes, then smirked devilishly. "I bet I can find something fun to do," he said.

Leaning forward, Itachi surprised him with a soft kiss on his wet forehead. "I'm sure you can find something fun to do anywhere," he said. "But I've been up all day and I'd like to sleep now."

The blond's big blue eyes stared at him, startled by the affectionate gesture, but managed a little pout at him. "Fine," he muttered, sliding out to grab a towel and hurriedly dry himself off before leaving the bathroom. Itachi grinned in embarrassment and pushed the water off his face again. He was still warming up to those kind of gestures, but he knew Deidara liked them, so he tried to step out of his comfort zone at least a little. The vampires giggling shyness in the back of his mind was worth it sometimes.

Standing up, he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, pausing only to give a longing look at his wonderful clawed foot bath tub. He really wanted to soak in it, but had a feeling if he did, he would fall asleep and drown in it from walking all the way from the city to the castle. He was getting out of shape. Picking up Deidara's towel, he tossed it into the laundry basket and took a new one to dry himself off and pull on his sleeping clothes before shutting off the lights and crawled up next to Deidara to collapse onto his favorite pillow. The darkness was welcome, the weight of the warm blankets fell over his shoulder as Deidara tucked him in then wedged himself into his favorite position against him. He could feel the blond watching him falling asleep without needing to open his eyes. His dreams were laced with Deidara's memories, some human, some vampire. They helped him understand him in ways that he couldn't deduce when awake.

To Deidara, their incident with the Shadow Hunters was already a fun adventure which he would tell in extravagant detail to anyone who would sit still long enough to listen, and he was ready to have another one as soon as possible. Itachi just wanted to spend more time with moments like this. Being around someone, being this close to someone was still new and he had never experienced it before he met Deidara. He hadn't thought it would be this nice. He thought of what Kali said about being vulnerable with someone. Vulnerable, but safe. Deidara had experienced so much in his life as a vampire, but Itachi was still living with a human's concept of time. He wanted to spend time with Deidara before throwing himself out into the world that wanted to kill them again.

That, he thought before finally drifting off entirely, would be for another day.

* * *

Thank you for reading my very long story! This is one of my favorites to write and now it's ended, though I have one more extra bonus special for you all to read after this. I hope you all enjoyed the adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	35. Bonus Chapter - The Black Theater

_"I am so beastly tired of mankind and the world that nothing can interest me unless it contains a couple of murders on each page or deals with the horrors unnameable and unaccountable that leer down from the external universes."  
― H.P. Lovecraft_

* * *

The misguided are such pathetic beings. Humans needed guidance. It was why they created fictional creatures such as gods. That is why the development of hierarchy began. Those that never needed guidance were the superior beings of old. They were fallen from the sky from a place they could no longer remember. They crawled out of the mud from a darkness they didn't know. They slimed out of the seas from a depth they had forgotten. It was in them that many of the ancients - what humans consider ancient - traced their roots to. Those that remained at least. Angels some called them, demons to others, but they had other names. Old ones that couldn't be spoken in the languages of the modern world. Ones not even he knew. It was from them that the generations the first Sainook, the magical soldiers against darkness, with their thoughts of superiority and magic symbols, began to evolve from the races of humans. They believed themselves to be directly descendant from the beings of old, the gods and angels, charged with keeping balance among darker beings and the safety of non-magical humans, scornful of other human races with magic in their veins – the magical families of witchcraft that believed themselves to be born from the ground itself.

The origin of his kind though ... well, he was not a historian. Historians dug into the past for forgotten knowledge so it could be shared with those who didn't know any better. They loved history. He was history. When archaeologists uncovered ancient tombs and desecrated burial grounds of the land that had been his home, he turned away an uncaring eye. He had seen them when they were alive and new. Now he was too old to care and barely remembered, lacking the heart to be nostalgic, even when his mistress' resting place was uncovered. She was no longer his mistress, but he knew her by no other name. She was dead. He was dead. She lay in a maze tomb, buried with her worldly possession under a pyramid of stone built on the backs of servants and slaves less fortunate then himself and he walked free. The worldly possessions of her family assured that she would be prosperous in the afterlife. She was dead. He was dead, but he walked on. The pains of the world, the pains of humanity, passed over him like water over pebbles that could never erode. He met no pain of age. No suffering of loss. Not in millenniums had plague and sickness touched him. His years alive were so faded to him now they could no longer be recollected, but he did remember the last plagues he witnessed alive.

No one knew the origins of his kind, but it was during these plagues evoked by war between witch families that they began to surface in the desert that was his only home and prison near the shores of the great river, the call of blood flowing in rivers instead of water was something they couldn't resist. Stories of selkies and dryads with other names, men who howled at the full moon. These he'd heard in stories as a child, told to frighten children away from the deep rivers and to keep them in bed at night. Never did he hear of these walking dead that feasted on the blood of humans and hid from the sun. Not until the creature stood over his bed, looking down at his small diseased and dying frame stubbornly clinging to life, angry at being abandoned to death in the unnatural darkness that surrounded the land and blotted out the sun. The last plague he witnessed alive that inspired religions for millenniums. Darkness.

He could not see the creature there. The darkness shrouded even the candlelight that had burned to a small stump. He felt the creature there, a fear that had nothing to do with his blindness. "You smell faintly of magic, witchborn child," the creature murmured. "Why are you left here, clinging to life?"

"I do not want to end," he had replied, his voice ragged, lips cracked and parched for want of water.

"They will prepare your body for the afterlife."

"No, they will not."

"Eternal life is a gift of God."

"I do not believe in a God."

"Your masters taught you their gods?"

"I do not believe in them either."

"What do you believe in?"

"Myself."

"That is a lonely thing to believe in. You're so young to have such thoughts," the creature told him. He could not see, but felt him kneeling down next to his broken and useless body. "Do you not believe in your family? Your masters?"

"My mistress died of the wizard's plagues."

"Was she properly buried?"

"Yes."

"Why were you not buried with her to continue serving her?"

"Because she knew I would not serve her in death."

The creature chuckled softly. "Such an aggressive slave… Do you want to live forever?"

"Yes."

"I will give it to you, dear boy."

"I thought eternal life was a gift of god," he reminded him, managing a weak sneer. "You are no god."

The creature laughed at him.

That day, for day it was despite the darkness that lay over the desert, he died and became the creature that had visited him. There was no name for what they were yet. They just were. Before, he had walked this world short of eleven years, then he died and froze in time. Forever in the appearance of a child. A cold child. He had always been a cold child. Never been completely right. The slave traders would talk about him before he was sold to the Mistress's household. What child walked the earth with no regard to others? What slave child thought himself of more worth than his owners? They tried to beat it out of his skin. They did not succeed. Now he was something more than a cold child. The sickness that had been killing him was overtaken and dispersed and nothing touched him again. The clever wickedness in him manifested with his death and undeath. He woke to the wails of despair from the people that had raised him from the small child they had received from foreign slave traders. The people mourned for their first child cursed with death from blood magic and their stubborn ruler finally agreed to surrender to the opposition. The darkness lifted and they hid from the sun. His Maker reminded him that he would have died as well - and stayed dead, as if he owed his Maker for the favor.

There were many lessons he needed to learn about what he was. His Maker claimed to be one of the oldest, but where they came from he wouldn't say, nor did he ask. The world they traveled, hiding from the sun that burned them like hell fire. It was in the Far East that he found his name. His birth name, he never knew. His slave name, he was never called. In the East, the people gave him a name, whispering of a menace that haunted the streets at night, and he enjoyed the taste of it on his tongue. He told his name to his Maker who agreed the name suited him. The scorpion. Sasori. Sasori from the desert washed red in the blood of the victims he claimed with his fangs and his tongue that stung like poison rather than pleasure.

The older he got, the stronger he became. There were others Made just as he was, but even without his heavy ego, he knew he was different from them. He had powers over the ones he made himself, just as his Maker had over him. The other could hypnotize their victims to control them. He could force them while they were aware. Aware and terrified; something even his Maker could not do without brute strength. They were his puppets. The thought manifested into the perfection of his control. He was the master of puppets. Living marionettes that writhed under his bite of pain instead of pleasure. The bite of his Maker was sweet and injected his victims with a substance that would make even the Pharaohs consorts unfathomably weak. Sasori had no such ability, though every other creature like him did and even those he Made possessed the ability. His name matched him as if the word was created especially for him.

The years droned on and their species grew in numbers. Perhaps there had always been many, but he had never heard of them. Sasori created and killed, just as his Maker did. He relished the power he had over his subordinates, his children as his Maker called them. This name Sasori refused. He made them, not birthed them. Taught and controlled, not loved. His Maker loved. To Sasori, they were his as much as he had been his mistress' in life; his to use and to throw away, as he was regrettably now with his Maker. It was the only thing he disliked about his new life. Alive, he had a choice to obey his mistress, though disobedience would result in punishment. Undead, he had to obey a direct order from his Maker. Sasori despised him for this. The freedom he had found when he awoke in his new life came crashing down to despair when the demanding direct command came out and he was compelled to obey despite his freewill no matter how simple or terrible the request. And the commands would be terrible because his Maker was frustrated that he refused to submit to him, using the bond between Maker and Made to punish Sasori for his insolence.

Sasori was different than the others his Maker made. His powers made him defiant. The category the leaders of his kind, centuries later, label 'Master'. Just like the weres who cried at the changing moon, there were dominates and submissives. Sasori was as dominate as his Maker and despised the hold he had on Sasori. It didn't take long for the vampire child to begin plotting his Master's true death and his own freedom.

He had heard a rumor whispered among the undead that consuming the heart of your Maker makes you even stronger. The idea was most intriguing, but no one Sasori spoke to had done it. Most had a strong attachment to their Makers and found themselves unable to harm their Maker at all, almost as if it went against their very nature to do so. He had heard it from a man from a country he had yet to visit, but he was unaware if the fool was bragging or if it was truth. Power was something he wanted, something he craved. Freedom from his Maker was something he wanted more than anything he'd ever wanted in these last hundred years. When the rumor of Sasori's plans reached his Maker, he confronted Sasori, knowing that Sasori was beyond his control. Their kind gained comfort in others, just as they had in their human life. Sasori desired none of that, his power and his wickedness made him a candidate for a monster without the little control his Maker had on him. They fought heatedly for many nights, hiding during the day from the sun and the other's human subordinates who were not turned yet. In the end, Sasori was triumphant and greedily devoured the bloody, unbeating heart he dug out of his Maker's chest.

If his strength grew from the act, he told and showed no one. A wise decision, he praised himself for it and all his other decisions. Masters were rarely born, but Sasori wouldn't risk one finding out and attempting it.

After his released from his Maker, Sasori happily slaughtered his Maker's subordinates then traveled where he wanted with his gaggle of followers trailing behind him, craving the taste of power he held. Together they gorged themselves on the blood of helpless humans. Drunk off the different flavors, they raided and stole, kept humans as pets and gained in numbers. Some of their kind hated humans for being alive, but Sasori was indifferent to their life as he was everything. He found their habits fascinating. As humans grew in numbers – far faster than his kind – they began to develop more cities, intricate and beautiful, made to withstand years and he appreciated them and devoured their plans and languages. During their travels, they came across others of their kinds, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. They called themselves anything from clans, to covens, to packs. Very few of the creatures leading these groups took him seriously. He was a child in their eyes and their minds still processed him as an adult would a child. They tried to speak to the older members of his followers instead of him, but they only laughed at them and inclined their heads respectfully to him. Knowledge of a Master with unique abilities in the body of a child spread quickly so that soon most recognized him before they were introduced.

In other parts of the world, others of his kind were forming their own kingdom. Like the humans themselves, a large group of such powerful beings such as themselves demanded a hierarchy. A major coven that would create rules for their kind and prevent chaos. The living were becoming aware of creatures that visited only at night to the unsuspecting households. Devouring adults and children alike, some taken away forever. Drained of blood with two faint scars nearly healed, yet freshly inflicted. There was safety in numbers and organization. Makers were no longer properly teaching their made. Newly made were dangerous and often were lost to blood starvation without proper care. Sasori didn't care for politics of the humans or paranormal. The strongest of their kind were being called to join and naturally they came to him with a request for his presence in the court chair. Yet he turned it down. He did not wish to be part of a coven, or rule over his kind with other mutually powered. He chose to live alone with those he made following after him like desperate puppies, craving his affection and attention while terrified of their possible death at his hand. A few departed from him to live on their own as well, but they would always come if Sasori called them as he would return to them if he sensed something amiss. Those that stayed happily called their group a clan, but only when they knew Sasori wasn't listening. He taught them and cared for them, but refused to consider them a family like clan or coven that depended on one another. When they tried to convince him, he killed them. He cared for nothing except his own pleasure.

Despite his dislike of companionship and covens, gain could be found in partnerships. One in particular sought him out wanting his crafty cruelty. Residing in the humid forests of India with his followers, Sasori was approached by another creature he had never seen before. It had no name, and like Sasori, it did not care. He just was. The man was generalized to the world as a half bred demon, a child of a witch seeking to breed more power. He wished to share the love of power and sadistic nature they both had and the two began their research of humans and paranormal alike. The first anatomic scientists. They dissected their bodies and their minds, keeping them alive through their terror and pain with the healing venom in Sasori's followers' fangs and blood. Sasori never shared his own.

Sasori found a new love in anatomy and could never get enough. People were so different. Yet so similar. Still, he liked to look into their insides, test their tolerance to pain. This testing turned into torture which even humans took interest in. Sasori didn't kill every human he came across, and sometimes he shared his research with them. The Chinese, the Greeks, the Romans. They all had their own gods they worshiped, their own methods of punishment for disobedience. He loved it. He moved among people, looked over because of his youth, watching societies develop and change. Cultures build up and empires fall. It fascinated him.

His new partner came from the countries in the Far East and called himself Orochimaru. Despite the magic in his veins, Orochimaru did not possess eternal life, not even the lengthily life of the witches who could live hundreds of years. His life was long, but not long enough. Youth slipped away from him, while Sasori remained unchangingly childlike. His undead followers changed much older than him, the humans that lived among them as food and day time servants were also much older than him in appearance; Orochimaru often pointed this out to him humorously. Sasori still appeared to be no older then ten or twelve – he was already forgetting his true age, and couldn't answer when asked what it was. Orochimaru craved this youth, but his blood wouldn't allow it. Seeking to right this, he began testing a new stem of experiments under Sasori's curious eye. By this time, the entire paranormal world had established its own government. Its own rulers according to each supernatural creature. The Vampires, as his kind were now called, had their head court in Rome, ruled by several Master Vampires that fought their way to the top. The shapeshifters had a similar system with their Alphas and Marroks. The witches had their head mothers and the fairies, their Kings and Queens. Sasori dealt very little with witches, but knew enough that the spells Orochimaru was weaving was against their laws. A body switching spell. One that removed the mind and soul of a being, leaving their body hollow and open to insert his own, gaining himself a youthful body once more. Once Sasori became aware of this, he observed but didn't intervene or aid unless specifically requested. Should the witch council learn of this work, it would be best to keep himself out of it.

The experiments ranged from human to paranormal; Sasori never allowed his own to be used, even if they offered themselves. He did not trust Orochimaru and since his vampires were already dead, their souls and minds leaving them might be disastrous. He had heard of zombies; mindless creatures that had died yet still walked the earth. They could not be controlled and Sasori would not want Orochimaru to be within his subordinates. Who knows what evil he would produce in them, destroying what Sasori had built. The only one allowed to do so was Sasori himself. His curiosity grew with the experiments. What was it that caused their minds to break and their souls to leave their bodies? Why did some die quickly while others clung to life? Humans were beginning to grow and overrun the world, so there was no harm in taking a few for their own gain. And the supernatural. Well, they should be better at taking care of themselves. The subjects Orochimaru no longer desired as vessels were given to Sasori's vampire subordinates for blood supplies when hunting couldn't be executed. It was quite a sufficient partnership. However, Sasori still wished to expand and stretch the abilities of his powers. Orochimaru didn't do that for him, and he grew bored of the creature's experiments, nothing he did even surprised him.

It was in the green provinces far north of his home country, across the deep sea of the Mediterranean, several centuries and some years after he and Orochimaru had started his experiments that he found the first creature that could.

Humans were beginning their own scientific studies at this time. Weak and pitiful though they were, always bound by the laws of society which looked down on the dissection of cadavers as a sin. There was also an intense fear of the paranormal, always trying to capture those that didn't belong, those who followed ways most men had forgotten. Witches especially, and their children, even half-bred children born from the union of Witch and Human. Some were born with unnatural life spans, others with powers that mimicked their ancestors but would never be as powerful as them. Psychics and telepaths. Humans feared them and persecuted them with cruelty that Sasori admired. Humans fascinated him. Pain often made their minds break, but sometimes they were born broken. Those who thought differently, who were slow, or truly crazy were given their own place to stay. A prison where they were closed off from the sunlight and left to dwell with their own insanity until it killed them.

Asylums they were called. Sasori loved them, and through him, his followers did as well. No one paid attention if the inhabitants screamed of night time visitors with cold skin and sharp teeth who chewed on the soft nooks of their skin and dug their fingers into their insides to learn their anatomy. In the green hills of a land called Germania, Sasori was stuck dumbfounded for the first time in his life. They opened the door to an asylum cell and the scent of the human inside of it hit him like a brick wall. He craved this human. He needed this human. Desire overwhelmed him that went beyond obsessive power. He forcefully threw his subordinates out and forbid them from entering this room or touching the human boy. He could taste the stubborn rage in the sticky sweetness of the boy who fought him violently. He could not remember any love of the sun, but he could taste it in this human's blood. Sunshine, springtime, joy, and the sky. He shook with the desire of this blood. Of all the inhabitants, this one was the sanest of the insane, but even crazier than the others. He was able to function without the use of the creative devices believed to cure insanity, but the humans that ran this asylum tortured him. Religious men tried to beat the devil out of him. Scientist playing doctor tore at his body trying to save his mind. Sadistic men took their frustrations out on him. Yet he remained mentally sound in his own insanity. His stubbornness was useless and yet he fought the redhead. Sasori was much stronger than the boy's frail, underfed body that couldn't possible fend him off. He had to force himself not to drink him to a dry death and even still Sasori's nails had clawed deep gashes into his body in his desperate feeding. He'd never fed desperately before and he shook with the feeling. This boy would die, leaving him unable to taste his blood again if he did not stop.

Sasori's venom didn't heal like other Vampires' did, so instead he gave the blond boy the gift of his own blood which did, sliced from his palm and pressed against his mouth finally silent rather than screaming at him. The boy didn't die that night and Sasori stayed with him for weeks, ignoring Orochimaru's calls sent by messengers to continue their work together and played with his new toy. Sometimes he just talked to him. Sometimes he tortured him worse than the scientists that visited during the day time. Only he did not leave any marks as they did. He cut him open, stretched out his organs, waiting to see if he'd die from shock alone, but he always gave him a little blood so that his insides would put themselves back together again perfectly. He knew his insides and outsides better than any other he'd played with before and was startled when he realized the blond knew things about him too.

"Who is the dark haired woman with the painted eyes, un? The one who calls you…" his mouth stumbled over the unknown language that was now lost to the world. He was lying on the bed while Sasori sat reading the book of notes the so called doctors kept on the boy's progress next to him, still debating on what he would do to him that night. "Slave-boy? Were you a slave once?"

The question startled him and in a rage he threw the boy away from him and left him unconscious for the attendants who monitored the asylum to find him as they made their rounds. How could he possibly know about her? His mistress from his life time in Egypt. He barely remembered her himself now. The word brought a flood of unwanted sparks of memories to him and the discovery that Sasori had been unaware of. He'd known that Vampires could taste each other's feelings in other Vampires blood, but he was unaware it did the same for humans. Of course, he returned to him, drawn to the scent and delicious taste of the human blood mixed with the terror made sweat. But the blood he had given so freely to save the blond's life gave him a strange understanding for his kind. At times, he dreamed things that only Sasori had seen, but he barely remembered small bits. Yet it didn't scare him. It made him bolder, more argumentative. He _laughed_ at Sasori for his conversations, enraging the redhead until they were both shouting at each other. As much as he angered him, Sasori refused to kill him. His blood tastes too sweet for him to destroy him and when his comments became to bold, the redhead tore him to pieces, relishing in the boy's screams of pain that satisfied Sasori's anger.

When he had spent three full months there with the blond, Orochimaru came searching for him. Angry at being ignored, the man argued with Sasori who regarded him in annoyance. He mocked Sasori for his obsession with the human boy he had restrained with the invisible strings of power to keep him out of the conversation.

Obsession.

Sasori scoffed at the man's ignorance. Orochimaru didn't feed off the living as he did, he didn't understand the desires and cravings of humans and vampires. Too selfishly wrapped in his own obsession with youthful immortality to be bothered with such things as taste. The body transfer wasn't perfect; he needed Sasori's aid to continue. He'd been successful with his body transfers – fifty-three so far these past thousand years, but that was the problem. fifty-three. He desired a body that never died or decayed. One that lived forever. Orochimaru wasn't human, and vampires were created from the bodies of humans.

Enraged that Sasori wouldn't listen and do what he said, Orochimaru demanded Sasori give him the blond as his next body. When he refused, Orochimaru tried to kill the boy, attacking both he and Sasori with powerful magic of his kind. Sasori's subordinates fought him with Sasori, handfuls dying in the flames of his attacks, but the body Orochimaru possessed was not his own and wasn't able to withstand the strength of magic and began to fail. He pulled back and fled, leaving disaster, blood and the ashes of dead vampires in his wake. Even humans had some sense of something wrong and Sasori had to quickly gather what remained and fled, stealing the boy away with his flock.

They ran quickly away from the Germania lands, traveling far to hide away in a warm Asian country that many years later would be called Singapore. The boy fought him the whole way, he didn't want to leave his country and when Sasori was bored with his complaining he handed him off to his subordinates to make him quiet. They'd never seen one of their own die at the hand of someone other than their Maker. Permanently die. Leaving them with strict orders to not kill him, Sasori settled down to watch them relieve their stress and brood irritably. His fangs couldn't give pleasure, but his nest's did. The blond's moans and screams of painful pleasure they put him through was musical entertainment as he plotted, but it was unnecessary. Several weeks later he received word that the witches had caught up with Orochimaru.

"Please let me go," the boy whispered in a raw voice once when they all crawled up to pile on a nest of cushions to die together during the day. Sasori was using his bruised chest as a pillow, watching the boys shockingly clear face, untouched by the fading of his eyes with the rise of the sun. A body was curled against Sasori's back and a few legs were pressed against his. Sasori had been too young before he was changed to have any sexual desires or impulses as the others did, but even he couldn't deny there was something rejuvenating of naked bodies pressed together in sleep as they hid in their Suntime death. "Let me go or kill me, un."

"Why would I do that?" Sasori said quietly. "I would have you with me forever. Forever, unchanging. It would be beautiful."

He felt his body cringe and tighten in disagreement as he sometimes did. The blond was so expressive, not just with his face or voice, but his whole body. "What is beautiful about forever? Beauty ends, that's what makes it pretty, un."

Sasori's chest creaked at the slight laughter that came out. What a foolish statement. "What's beautiful about things that end? They're easily forgotten," Sasori mocked. He turned his head to the side to see him better. He should give him a name. "You think anyone back in your country even remembers that you exist? No one will remember you when you're dead."

His eyes as blue as the sky his blood tasted of stared down at him, but they weren't angry, they were amused. Downright _snarky_. " _You_ will remember me when I'm dead, un," he sneered, his crooked grin showing his teeth. Sasori glared at him and sank his teeth into the boy's chest, too weak to strike him. The bodies around them stirred as they smelled the breaking of skin, the utopia of taste seeping into Sasori's mouth, his human's whimpering groans as he stretched and weakly fought, but the other vampires crawled closer, clutching his limbs and gummed his skin, waiting for Sasori to allow or deny their teeth. He denied them; the blond was already exhausted and didn't have enough blood to spare the masses.

Orochimaru had been correct about one thing. He was obsessed. Not with the boy himself, but with his blood. The blood of other humans now tasted bland and boring to him, he kept the blond for himself, only letting his nest of subordinates feed from him when he was feeling particularly cruel and the blond had gotten under his skin with his insufferable stubbornness. He was scared of Sasori, but not enough to humble himself and allow Sasori his way. Verbally and physically he exhausted both of them with his abrasion to Sasori's way of thinking; though Sasori wouldn't admit to it, he was enjoying himself more. No one ever had the balls to stand up to him. The boy was smart too, clever with his tongue and his hands and did not want to stay with him. Again and again he would try to run away and Sasori had to bring him back to him. He even tried bribing him with gifts of toys and games and it didn't satisfy the boy. Sasori named him Deidara, but the blond hated it. In fact, when Sasori told him, he created a bomb out of materials he had stolen from markets and traders during his trips out in the sun when Sasori couldn't stop him, and threw it at his face in midday, then ran away as far as he could while Sasori, in his day time death, was unable to do anything but lay there and smolder angrily while his Made panicked around him, unable to get away from the fire it caused.

It took him longer than he expected to find him; the clever boy had found a river to carry him very far downstream and had crawled into a sewer full of rats and feces and other disgusting things that burned his nose. Despite how badly it covered up his once euphoric scent, he found him three nights later, hungry and freezing in the decay. He dragged the blond out of the sewers to an empty basement apartment and spent hours scrubbing him clean, trying to get the filthy smell off of him. He whispered his new name in his ear and indulged himself on his body in way he never had with another before, forcing the boy - Deidara - to do the same. He desperately wanted him to stay with him, his toy that gave him life through his blood. He kept running away from him and he wouldn't allow it anymore. He changed him to a vampire that night, crooning together on the bed of thin pillows and blankets. He held him close, breathing in his perfect scent as he felt him die, his heart slowly nothing despite his fighting to stay alive. They died together as the sun rose, frozen in time as children. The unloved boy clutching his reluctant, abandoned toy. Deidara would never leave him again. Of that, he was sure.

When the sun left them, Sasori stirred and sat up, dragging Deidara up into his lap and gave him his first drink as a vampire of his own blood from his wrist torn with his fangs. He could feel the blond in his head, as he could all his Made. He'd be able to find him wherever he went now. Always. He felt the blond feeling things as he drank from him hungrily, and also felt his anger. Of all his Made, Deidara was one he would not dispose of. "Now I have you, forever," he murmured, nuzzling his nose into Deidara's neck while the blond drank. "You can never leave me again." He inhaled the wonderful scent of his skin and sank his teeth into his neck.

The blood that filled his mouth burned and turned to ash in his mouth. Shoving the blond away he hacked and gagged, clutching his throat as he tried to get it out of him. Terror gripped him as he vomited it out onto the floor. Lifting his head up, he stared at Deidara, his eyes wide and childlike in his panic. Deidara was staring back at him from the corner of the room where he'd fallen. What was wrong? What happened? He could still smell Deidara's blood, it still smelled the same, but why did it hurt him? He could feel his movements becoming more childlike, but he couldn't help himself, didn't even think to stop the pathetic whimper that fell from his lips. It was the nature of his being, changed so early in life. Like a brokenhearted creature, he held his hands out to the blond and waited for the blond to crawl back to him, wide eyed with his own confusion. The redhead held him close, trying again and again to feed off him, but the same reaction came.

If he could cry, he would be in tears. Tears of terror; tears of heart wrenching pain. He retched and dry heaved until it felt as though his organs would be ejected through his mouth. It burned. It burned so badly, eating his throat, slicing his stomach. Why? Why? How could this happen to him? This was impossible. All he had wanted to do was make sure this boy could never leave him again. The only thing he had ever wanted. It was right there and he tried and tried again to take it and it happened over and over until his insides felt like shards of glass. Deidara's mouth was stained with Sasori's own blood which had been gifted to him. He was a creature he didn't want to be, and he would never end. He hated Sasori for it, but the blood in his mouth gave him mouthfuls of information, gulps of emotions. He understood Sasori in ways no one else the redhead had met did having never shared his blood with anyone else. He could taste his anguish and swallow his current feelings of self-loathing, an emotion the redhead had never felt before. He allowed Sasori to crawl into his lap, trying again and again to swallow the elixir of blood, but the same result happened each time. He clung to him, crying tears that didn't fall. Torture. Absolute torture. Agony like he had never felt before ripped through him physically and mentally. He didn't know how to handle this and let the boy try to comfort him to no avail. He didn't know how to be comforted. He always got what he wanted and now he could no longer have it. The world was at his finger tips and the only thing on the entire planet he ever wanted was before him and he could never have it again. In spite of his anger, Deidara's pity made him stay with him, allowing his Maker to cast off the persona he displayed in front of others and curl into his lap as a child, desire filling his nostrils, but his blood was now toxic to him.

A Maker couldn't feed off of his Made.

Sasori finally took Deidara back to the nest with the others, if only to keep the blond from getting uncontrollable in his blood lust. It was hard to teach the newly made vampire how to correctly feed and contain himself when the very sight of him reminded him of what he'd lost in his mistake. His own selfish error to keep the boy to himself. Now he had him forever, but he could never taste him again. His subordinates were thrilled by the newcomer as they always were, but didn't understand Sasori's sudden withdrawal and lack of interest in their comings and goings. He no longer found pleasure in the torture of others, and it was only his own stubbornness to live forever as unchanging perfection that kept him from wasting away back to a true death.

After a month, Deidara stopped taking pity on him. His sharp temper with the redhead returned with a vengeance and, despite the other vampires' seniority over him, began asserting himself above them, refusing to listen to suggestions or orders. His clever tongue and hands didn't die with his human body, but grew in his death. His unnatural love of things that exploded with so called 'art' led to the death of one of Sasori's strongest Made along with several others. It was bloody and gruesome, and the blond only relished, giggling as the vampire's remains drenched the building they had been staying in. Those deaths made Sasori pay more attention to the blond again, dredging himself out of his depression and starvation to take charge of his vampires again. He retaught Deidara what the others had tried, how to hunt and feed and walk among humans without being one. The blond hated being a vampire and did everything in his power to make Sasori as miserable as he could. Not with his blood, no, never with his blood; the ties that bound them in the filthy room wouldn't let him be so cruel to the redhead. Deidara was a deja vu to Sasori. Not what he'd seen, but what he was. Deidara was strong and stubborn as he, growing stronger with each drink of human blood he took and each delightful explosion he made with the bodies that they gathered for feeding. He was becoming a Master Vampire such as himself. Though hyper active and insane, just as Sasori was calm and insane. No one had made rules of making Vampires yet, nor did anyone notice that the younger the human changed, the less stable they were.

He wasn't always though. Some nights as Sasori lay in wait for day time death to take him, Deidara would crawl to his side, calm and reserved to rest his temple against his so neither had to waste energy forcing air from their bodies. They would spend those day time hours in deep conversation. Sometimes those conversations had words, sometimes words weren't needed. At times they could hear each other's thoughts with no effort of their vocal cords. Sometimes it was just nice to hear the other's voice. Deidara loved to talk and at times Sasori enjoyed listening. Deidara told him about the green fields and lush trees and rivers that went on forever. How it felt to smell the first taste of spring and the joy of smearing your face with berries picked right off the bush. The desert Sasori came from had none of these things. None that he had been allowed to experience as a slave. He learned that Deidara's mind had never been right to the town he lived in, like others said of Sasori. Suffering souls tortured and possessed by demons to be so frightening. He thought differently, processed things differently and he had to same cruelness Sasori had, though it was not as menacing. Sasori enjoyed slow torture to obtain his goals, enjoying the pain and terror of his victims right up until he accomplished his goal. Deidara worked just as detailed, just as hard, but his enjoyment came only at the end goal, no feelings whatsoever towards his victim. In Deidara's mind, he improved their life. It was what got him locked in the darkness to begin with. He had killed another person trying to recreate the beautiful fireworks he had seen from a traveling carnival. He had blown the other child up. There had barely a piece of her to give to her family, but Deidara had been too young to be tried as a man and the new doctors of the institute had requested his being sent to be a test subject. To fix him. As if he was broken. Sasori assured him very firmly he wasn't broken.

Sasori adored Deidara, his lovely perfect toy despite the fact that he couldn't feed on him anymore. They traveled the world together. Played games together. Fought in wars together. Sasori had never wanted a companion before, but a toy that played back was something entirely different. He had never had a friend to play with, nor did he crave one, but no one was ever brave enough to play games with him for long. Deidara did not share his sentiment and when the blond told Sasori that he was leaving to go off on his own, Sasori outright refused him. It didn't matter that Deidara was a Master, Deidara was part of his collection; he didn't want to let him go. As a Master, Deidara had the right to leave, the right to challenge as he had once challenged his own Maker. He began pushing Sasori out of his mind, creating a barrier between their connection to keep the redhead from entering his thoughts and interfering with his decisions. Sasori would creep into his thoughts to remind him of the leash on him, but it became more and more difficult to enter. Finally, he found that he couldn't even stretch his fingers through the barrier between his mind and Deidara's. The blond had succeeded in baring him and would never invite him in again. Regardless of Sasori's refusal, Deidara left and eventually returned to his own country as he wanted, overthrowing the City Master there and gaining his foothold in the Vampire's political society.

It was because of Deidara that laws began to form around the Making of vampires. Those that held the council seats where Sasori had once been invited to had determined that to turn a human, they must be an adult – someone who has finished developing. They decided age twenty-three was the youngest to change. Nearly every vampire under that age was a liability for the Council. Vampires under the age of seventeen they found to be completely unstable. Trapped in the bodies of children forever, their minds, still developing themselves, could not adapt. They were all destroyed. Yet the two child vampires that had drawn this attention couldn't be killed. The Vampire Court tried to dispose of Deidara many times, but he was too strong. Both Sasori and Deidara were too powerful. Child vampires' minds broke from the change, their minds were already abnormal before their change. They were too powerful. Too dangerous. Too unpredictable. Yet no matter how they tried to take them down, the council was unable to do so. They expected a full overrule, but Deidara never tried to gain any more power than his title of City Master. He didn't want to rule over the vampires, he simply wanted to be home – despite that everyone he had once known was dead for nearly a century – and didn't want to live there under the thumb of another Master. He learned politics and created a small kingdom with vampires under him and connections to other species living in the city like no other Master had done.

Sasori followed his movements with detached interest from his own throne of blood and decay he supplied himself and his followers where they went. At times he would leave them to find Deidara again, at times Deidara found him on his own. They would spend the day understanding one another, but neither would bend to the other's will and so they always parted – often violently.

When Deidara was only a century old, Sasori grew tired of traveling. He laid waste to his followers and set up his own fortress located in a desert that was four days, as a vampire runs, away from the nearest city. And he slept. His slumber lasted a few years, waking only to feed and to check on the world itself. Humans only traveled there a few times a year, begging refuge in his mansion's oasis. The house was well stocked with human food and comfort in the gardens and pantries. Often times they stayed longer than they intended and suffered for it when Sasori awoke. Vampires didn't brave the desert or his company. He was left to himself until he saw fit to venture out into the real world to replenish himself of human contact. The world was changing more and more rapidly. War was in the air and it called to him. The promise of blood, torture and games. That, he couldn't resist.

He was too young to join ranks of humans in war, so he had to sneak into the thick of the battles. He viewed battle plans, whispered schemes and aided scientists in concentration camps. Deidara had been pulled to the call as well, joining the Luftwaffe for the glee of airships that he joyfully worked on and flew. The blond preferred the air and Sasori returned to the camps to revive his love of anatomical curiosity – though the human scientists and doctors were only beginning to understand what he did. It was still enjoyable to him and these humans didn't have reservations because they did not believe their subjects to be anything more than animals. Much like Sasori viewed them.

After the wars, Sasori slipped away from the world again, finding it dull without it. He still watched from afar, not wanting to fall behind on information, particularly technology, but stayed away from everything. Now alone without any followers, he began seeking Deidara out again for temporary companionship and an occasional argument. The blond had returned to his duties as City Master and worked with the Vampire Council, though he had not been offered a position on the council as he had. The Council was more aware of the dangers of the young vampires and Sasori suspected that Deidara and he were the last child vampires on the planet. It was impossible for any vampire who was not the two of them to escape capture.

He had been halfway through another long sleep when he was awoken by a strange feeling. His home was empty, he could feel the heat of the dessert sun brought through the open windows and doors by the wind. What had it been? It took him several minutes laying in the darkness of his bed to realize that it was Deidara. The blond had been keeping him out of his head for so long he barely recognized the feelings that slipped out from the closed door in his head. The blond was excited about something. So excited that he couldn't contain it, bursting with joy.

Curiosity sparked, he slipped from his desert home to intersect the blond in Greece to find out what it was. When he found his pet, he was disappointed to learn that his joy had been just another stray human he picked up. The blond loved picking up strays. This one he seemed overly protective of and he was startled when Deidara told him – apprehensively – that he had the same pull to the human's blood as Sasori had to his. That had been the joy. To find something that smelled so delicious and so tempting. He had trained the blond well to be able to not kill the human from the greed the blood creates.

He tried to feed on the human himself, wanting to know if his blood tasted as delicious as Deidara told him. The human did not give him the chance, shocking him by breaking his puppet master hold on him to escape. No one had ever been able to escape his hold before. Deidara had been the only one of his followers to really take him by surprise. Had his pet found another being that could? The only creatures who had ever escaped his strings had been Shadow Hunters, yet this boy smelled of human. Not a trace of magic on him. Perhaps if he tasted his blood he would know for sure, but Deidara was too possessive of him to share. He refused to share. None of his other vampires ever denied him something.

But he didn't force him.

He'd never do that. Not after his own Maker forced him into submission. Sasori didn't need to use that kind of force to get what he wanted; eventually, Deidara would give it to him. He decided to wait. Deidara might keep him out, but he still had his influence over him. The blond would not forget him. Despite the fact that his quiet pity made him angry, it had its advantages at times.

A mistake. He should have killed that stupid human before he gained confidence in the new world around him.

The night Deidara split his soul in half to give to the human, it felt as though someone had hit him in the back of his head. He toy fell from his hands, the sudden aloneness almost overwhelming. He was always alone. He liked being alone. But he had forgotten what it felt like to be truly alone. He had always had a presence in his mind for as long as he could remember. His Maker. His Made. But his Maker was dead. Deidara was the last of his Made that he kept track of.

And suddenly he was gone.

Just gone.

He scrambled to grab at the spider threads of his mind that had once led to his favorite Made as they fluttered to the floor of his thoughts. Gone. It was so quiet in his head. Too quiet. He liked being alone, but he hated the quiet. Worry swept over him. Had someone killed Deidara? If someone had their life was now forfeit. No one harmed his things. No one. But then he paused. Deidara wasn't dead… he could still tell… from somewhere far away he was still alive. But why couldn't he feel him? Something was keeping him from him. Why was he alone? Rage boiled from the pit of his stomach to the tips of his fingers.

That human.

That fucking human.

It was his fault. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it had something to do with him. In his anger, he left his home to return to Germany where the two of them lived and discovered that Deidara had discovered a way to keep his human with him forever. As if he was rubbing it in his face. Yet his human, Itachi, wasn't as useless as he originally thought and he quelled Sasori's rage with a strange calmness the redhead couldn't quite understand. Sasori enjoyed an audience and Itachi gave it to him. He decided to forgive him for the sake of entertainment, but if Deidara didn't open the connection, he would get rid of Itachi.

The decision to give Itachi a taste of his blood came when Sasori began to realize that Deidara was so content with his connection with the brunette that he would never return to him unless Itachi suggested it. He knew Itachi would feel guilty. Itachi was much softer than either of them. Far more gentle than the other humans Deidara had picked up. Deidara loved picking up strays, giving them a home, keeping them safe and presenting them with opportunity. He wanted friends, but they still served him like followers. Sasori was his real friend, always coming back to him when he wanted, but now Itachi was there and the redhead was not pleased by the shift of power. It hadn't been until Deidara that he realized his suffering could be used as a weapon against people and he used it carefully on Itachi. As soon as he felt it, Itachi was certain that Deidara should connect to him again. As planned, he got what he wanted and left to return to his sleep, yet he could not do so because of his pet and human once again.

No matter how hard Deidara kept him out, some things slipped through, particularly strong emotions. He was always a tiny shadow in the back of his mind that grew and faded depending on how hard the blond was trying to block him. One evening he couldn't feel him at all and it confused him. It wasn't sudden like when Itachi had severed their connection, but the blond was using all his willpower to seal off his own mind. It lasted for days, but something kept tickling the back of his mind and he couldn't figure what was causing the spider's threads to tremble from a distant disturbance. Not until he heard a familiar name echoing in a strange voice did he realize what it was.

"Sasori-danna"

Irritably, he threw his game onto the cushions of his chair and went down to his underground bedroom to lay in the dark. It was easier here to let his mind focus. He rarely needed much effort, but this was an entirely new experience and wasn't sure if it would work. Despite Deidara's threats against Sasori if he tried to get to Itachi through him, Sasori had indeed tried to get to the human that was indeed a child of a Shadow Hunter. He didn't know why he couldn't, but assumed that it was the strangeness of the bond they shared. That was the irritable name Deidara called him because he knew he hated it, but it hadn't been Deidara's voice. He couldn't reach Itachi, but it seemed as though Itachi could reach for himself. Following the strands of his mind, he passed through the spider web of connections and found himself in someone else's dream. It had been so long since he had dreamed that he couldn't remembered what it was like. Itachi was there as he expected and looked horribly distraught. He learned of the Shadow Hunters and the terrible plan the brunette had, but would he help them? He pondered that for a day, weighing his options and wondering if it was worth it. When the Hunters separated those two, they would attack Deidara. That notion is what roused him because he knew his toy and that stupid fool wouldn't fight back. He was too sentimental. He kept his pets too close and being broken away like that, he wouldn't even try to defend himself.

But he knew he couldn't go straight to intercept the Shadow Hunters. Sasori was powerful, but their numbers could overwhelm him. He had to succeed with cleverness. He decided to first travel to the Vampire Council in Rome to get another wronged person. The council was beside itself with terror at his sudden arrival. Most of the vampires there had only heard stories of him, and with their swollen egos, attacked him. He killed those who opposed his presence, but everyone quickly left him alone as he demanded the Council bring him the Human Servant of Kali.

The Indian man looked confused when he approached, but Sasori simply motioned for him to come with him and they began their journey to Asia. Deidara was still closed off to him, but since entering his dream Sasori was able to find Itachi if he concentrated hard enough, though that was the extent of their connection. While they were in the airport, Sasori explained to Tal what he was intending to do and instructed him to use his power as Kali's Human Servant to request the presence of the council in Japan. It was one of the council locations they could get to the fastest.

He knew the Shadow Hunters would not be kind, but even he was not expecting the sight he found in the Council hall. They arrived just as the man tried to kill Deidara and Itachi stepped in. Quick as he was, he was not fast enough to stop the Shadow Hunter from landing the blow. Deidara was starved and sewn together, Itachi dying. They had damaged his things and, in his anger, Sasori had simply killed him instead of just trying to stop him from harming the two more. Out of habit, he had tried to attach his controlling strings to the Shadow Hunter to stop him and to his surprise, they stayed attached after the man died. He had never been able to control Shadow Hunters with his strings before, yet this time he did. He used this new-found ability to gain the upper hand on the council, though he let Tal do the talking. Deidara was so out of his mind by Itachi's injury it was taking more of his power and focus to control him so that he didn't accidentally lose himself in Itachi's spilled blood. He wasn't dead, but he would need blood. Again, he would have to save these foolish thorns in his sides.

Sasori had never inquired magical wounds before. Shadow Hunters were so private that even he hadn't had much of a chance to explore them as much as he had humans and other paranormal beings. Force seemed too much of a hassle and his abilities couldn't control them, so he never felt the need to try. When Itachi wouldn't wake up and his wound wouldn't heal, Sasori felt like punching a wall in frustration. Deidara had never been so useless before that he remembered, but the blond was falling to pieces in hunger and in worry. Sasori had to physically restrain him and talk him out of his panic without beating him to a pulp because he might need the blond later. He didn't know much about Human Servants, so he listened closely to Tal as he explained the connection between Human Servants and their vampires. Tal was convinced Itachi should be healing because Deidara was fine and was just as concerned as the blond that he wasn't waking up. The redhead concluded that since Deidara was still weak, their connection couldn't help him. He needed stronger blood. He gave him his own, deciding to add it to the enormous list of favors the two of them would owe him now. Leaving Tal instructions to take care of the brunette, Sasori left the room where Deidara had waited miserably in his hunger and trust that his Maker would care for him as he had when he was newly Made.

"You need to feed," he told the blond. He didn't want to leave. He was fine. He was going to stay here until Itachi woke up. He was an idiot and Sasori told him so, dragging him by the arm to the elevator ignoring his fighting protests. The blond tried to argue that he wasn't safe to feed on anyone anyway due to his hunger and Sasori paused to glare at him. Did he think that he was beyond Sasori's control? Sasori had been the one to teach him how to feed in the first place. The countless Made Sasori had had over the years, did he think he had forgotten how to take care of them. Deidara seemed to sense that and backed down reluctantly respectful. As they descended, Sasori had Deidara feed off his own blood for safe measure. He whispered in his ear as he did. They would hunt again. Hunt anonymously in a crowd of a city teeming with possibilities. Together they would crawl through the alleyways looking for lost sheep like wolves. Deidara shivered with anticipation against him, following him willingly on the hunt, yet as soon as he felt Itachi awaken, he ran back to him.

The two of them were becoming a bigger thorn in his side than he ever anticipated. Of course, he had to help them get out of the trouble they were in. He had to call the werewolves and be clever while they mewled over one another. He had to go with them to get Kali. He had to baby sit them in secret while Deidara relearned to drink Itachi's blood. The debt they owed him ran high and while he led Kali through the snow, he began to think on a small idea he had. Would it work? He did the math and knew the chances were slim. Very slim. But there was little else he wanted and even less that they could give him in return. It took Deidara a few decades to begin showing his potential, who knew how long it would take Itachi to show some use.

Deidara would never agree to his plan, he knew, but Itachi might. Sasori and Deidara were apathetic, but Itachi was exactly the opposite. He was kind, gentle and would, with his human emotions, be sympathetic. His calculations were correct and though he couldn't hear their thoughts, he knew Itachi was trying to convince the blond simply by the venomous dangers being sent in his direction while they waited out the sun in Kali's cave.

But in the end, Itachi was successful. Because as apathetic as Deidara was, he had tasted his blood too. And though he tried to control the situation, Sasori got his way as he always did. When they arrived back to Deidara's mansion, Sasori lost his patience with them and made them feed. He watched Deidara bleed, the struggle to resist was hard. Sasori knew what would happen if he tried, but why did it have to still smell so marvelous. Jealously he watched Itachi drink what should be his and his alone.

He had been curious about Itachi's blood before the idea to try tasting Deidara's blood, but the blond had been too possessive to let him. The human did smell very nice, and as Itachi's blood poured into his mouth from Sasori's favorite biting area he got to put a flavor to the smell. The smell, he decided, was the Shadow Hunter blood. The magic made his blood sweeter with a slight tangy taste. He tasted his worry, his concern, the constant stress he'd been under. He tasted….

He froze, eyes closed. It was there. Almost there, but it wasn't real. It painfully wasn't real. A ghost.

He almost chocked. He heard Deidara whine and he stopped. He barely felt the blond shove him away so he could comfort Itachi. A ghost… it was a memory. But it was overlaid by Itachi's memories and feelings. Itachi's affection for Deidara, his concern for his safety, his sympathy for Sasori and his never-ending patience.

But Deidara's….it…. was there….

It was… just outside of his grasp…

diluted by Itachi's blood but…

it…

"Danna?"

He looked up in confusion. He had been certain that it had been Deidara calling to him. It had been Itachi, he could tell based on their expressions. Deidara's was too angry to make such a soft sound. He stared at Itachi. It had been there. There…. Right outside of his reach. He had been so close. Closer than he'd ever been before. He wanted to collapse like he had on the night he changed Deidara, but he would not. He would not. He would never let anyone see him like that ever again. He was Sasori. The oldest vampire that currently walked the planet. He was not weak. He was not pathetic.

Pushing himself off the bed, he walked to the door. He wanted to say something. A passing remark of sarcasm because he knew his expression had not been controlled and Itachi had seen it. He wasn't running. He was leaving. He was done with these two. For now. He would return when they had grown, when they were worth his time. He was not running away.

He returned to his home, not stopping for anything. He had his fill of the world. He was more active this year than he had been since the wars. And even then he had not been so active. He wanted rest, he wanted quiet.

Down in the tunnels under his oasis home, he crawled into the familiar nest of blankets and pillows. He fought to purge his mind. He would sleep. As close to sleep as a vampire could get. Drifting outside of the physical world, he let himself forget where his body was, forget when his body was. He slipped into his mind and walked along the catacombs, ignoring the hollowed-out rooms full of memories and past events. His fingers ran over the shelves that made the walls, the specimen jars that contained details. Some of their labels were clear and detailed, others faded and withered. He approached a chain linked fence in the darkest, most private part of his mind. His fingers slipped through the chains, but they couldn't go far. They touched an impenetrable barrier; the door that Deidara wouldn't let him through. He wouldn't be allowed through that door ever again. He wondered if Deidara would ever open it again now that he had Itachi's mind to protect.

Jerking his hands back, he found a suspended place of his mind where he could no longer remember what had been there. Empty of thoughts he hid from the world. Letting himself rest. Letting himself sleep. Letting himself forget the ghost that made him feel so unbearably helpless.

The world would know him again when he was finished. It was his play thing as everything in it was.

He was not helpless.


End file.
